Unfortunate Circumstances
by backlash symphony
Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More specifically, Kisame.ItaSakuKis
1. Arc 1: Lured By Death

Story Title: Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter Title: 1. Lured by Death

Chapter 1 of 11

Arc 1 of 4

Pairing: ItachiSakuraKisame

Rating: M (Swearing, Later chapters)

Author: Backlash Symphony

Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More epecifically,

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Do you think I'd be writing this stuff if I did? Didn't think so.

Extra: Alright! So I'm back, yeah? For those of you familiar with my works, I've taken you through the world of strange pairings, past tragic and painful OrochimaruSakura, into the tortured reflective mind of OrochimaruAnkoJiraiya, the underwear snatching OrochimaruTsunade, and the uber sweetness and fluffiness of KisameSakura. So now I'm here to walk you through what I view as the most popular of the rare pairings. I bring you to the steps of ItachiSakuraKisame.

So enough rambling! Let's get the details straight!

In this story, before anything happens, Kakashi and Sakura realized their feelings for one another. Over time, Kakashi proposed and Sakura accepted. Kakashi was sent on a mission that he was told was B-Ranked, but turned out to be S-Ranked because of Akatsuki interference. He was killed in battle. This story is set three months after the death of Kakashi. Naruto is still with Jiraiya. Sasuke has run from Orochimaru who is looking for him. The Akatsuki are still searching for the Kyuubi. Sasuke is still looking for Itachi having already killed one of Akatsuki's men.

I've pretty much put a twist on the same old 'Sakura gets kidnapped to heal Itachi's eyes. Sakura and Itachi fall in love. Sakura is faced with the decision that could make her a brokenhearted girl at home or an in-love girl wanted by her friends and they'll never understand.' Yes, that's what you get when you read my work! Something you're not going to expect! Kisame is the center of attention here!

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke: 20

Itachi, Kabuto: 26

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade: 58

Aaand...that seems to be it for now. There'll be flashbacks of Sakura and Kakashi so you KakaSaku fans will get a little bit of that, and there might be a little flirting going on between Sakura and some of the Akatsuki members, though it would be pointless to Sakura and wouldn't stray Sakura's loathing eyes from Itachi and Kisame.

**The name of the village used is Hitmitsuzuka. It means 'House of Secrets'. I did not create this name on my own. All ownership belongs to Theif of the Sand who gave me permission to use it.**

Text means normal writing.

'Text' means thoughts.

'_Text_' mean Inner Sakura's thoughts.

**Text** means flashback.

Alright then! Let's get this fic started!

"And that's final, Sakura!"

The blonde hokage slammed her fist down on the table for emphasis. The tension in the air was tangible and those waiting outside the frustrated hokage's office were nervous. When someone else made her angry, they got off a lot more lightly than the person who came in next, especially if the person who pissed her off is the only person she'd ever take any crap from.

Sakura Hatake.

The pink haired 20 year old leaned lazily against the wall by the door, arms crossed over her chest as she slumped and gave Tsunade a half-lidded stare. It was a trait one would claim belonged to the infamous Kakashi Hatake. The complete lack of respect from one of the most respectful -and respected- people in the village would strike some as odd, but only if they didn't know the history behind it all.

Tsunade's ticked off look softened a bit and she sighed, looking at her ex-student sadly.

"Sakura, I know you're still mourning, but Kakashi's been dead for slightly less than six months, now," Tsunade stated firmly. "You know how much I hate saying this, but you're a kunoichi, and the strongest one in Konoha. You need to get over it, or at least make me believe you have. Continue going on missions. Go out more." Her voice hardened somewhat. "I know you're in pain, but your job and rank as a kunoichi doesn't allow you the luxury of sulking for the rest of your life."

Sakura's jade eyes flickered with an emotion Tsunade couldn't quite describe as the young woman straightened herself off of the wall.

"Fine," Sakura muttered flatly.

Tsunade gave the girl a small smile and straightened a small stack of papers on her desk before holding them out for Sakura to take. She moved forward and accepted the papers, tucking them under her arm and turning wordlessly to exit the office.

"You'll thank me later, Sakura," Tsunade said before Sakura passed through the doorway.

She stopped and turned her head to look over her shoulder. She gave a very soft smile.

"I hope you're right, Tsunade. I really hope you are."

With a cup of steaming apple blossom tea in her favorite red mug, Sakura settled down on the small two-seater couch, snuggling under a thick black blanket. Pillows propped up her back as she took a hesitant sip from her hot drink before setting it down on the table beside her. It was 80 degrees outside and she was inside tucked in with materials one would usually see during the winter.

Sakura smiled sadly. She remembered...

**18 year old Sakura shivered and let out a frustrated groan as she rubbed her hands furiously up and down her arms. She was curled up into a ball on her bed.**

**"Why don't you fix the air conditioning already!" she shouted, though it sounded more like a whine.**

**Footsteps moved to the door to her room and Kakashi walked in.**

**"What's wrong with it?" he asked, tugging at the collar of his t-shirt.**

**Sakura glared at him.**

**"What's wrong with it?" she repeated, looking at him skeptically. "It feels like freakin' 10 degrees in here!" she cried. "I'd much rather be _outside_ in the heat than have to deal with this!"**

**Kakashi chuckled, shaking his head and moving closer to Sakura. The girl sat up on the bed and shot him another glare.**

**"Funny, I don't think it's cold," he said, seating himself next to Sakura.**

**"Well aren't _you_ lucky?"**

**"However, there's something I recall learning about that could help with your..._problem_."**

**Sakura raised a brow, arms still rubbing the warmth into her skin, interested in where this conversation was going.**

**"Oh? And what would that be?" she asked bitterly.**

**He grinned at her, that adorable yet sexy smile -the one where he had dimples, one higher up than the other- that made her fall in love with him all over again.**

**"Well, it starts with a little something like _this_."**

**He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Sakura caught on immediately and would've started laughing had Kakashi not deepened the kiss and pinned her shivering body between the shuriken comforter behind her and his heated body.**

**'_We're never going to have a problem with the air conditioning ever again!'_**

Sakura smiled at the happy memory. Even after Kakashi had died, she'd refused to call in someone to fix the air conditioning. She had a handul of memories ranging from snuggling with Kakashi to falling victim to his melting touches in bed because of the lack of heat. She wasn't ready to give those up just yet.

With a sigh she shuffled through the papers Tsunade gave her, laying them across her lap to read. She scanned the first page. It was the basic introduction to her mission. Apparently she was needed to provide medical service in a village she'd never heard of. Sakura, the know-it-all, had never heard of this village before.

Hitmitsuzuka.

'_House of secrets? Why would someone name a village _that?'

"Good luck spelling _that_," she mumbled, looking at the rest of the page.

Hitmitsuzuka had fallen to some sort of unknown illness that was forcing the hospital to fill up. So far, nothing had cured it and nothing had been able to put an end to some of the symptoms. Apart from that, they were requesting Sakura stay and teach some of the people in the village so they wouldn't need to call upon them for medical help any longer after. Her trip was listed as an unknown length.

As Sakura continued to read more about the village, she came to realize that it held its name quite well. There wasn't much listed about its history, just that it was an old village. There were no ninjas and everything between the time it came to exist -including how- and just recently when the sickness broke out was blank. She figured from the comment on the first page that the people were very independent and didn't like asking for help from others around them.

Sakura took another sip of her tea and continued to read, making mental notes on the village and memorizing the details concerning the illness. The village was incredibly small. There couldn't have been more then one hundred and thirty people, and it was written on the paper that it was harmless despite the fact that she'd already noted the 'no ninjas' bit on the previous few pages.

The man in charge of the village was named Tsukakai. He was nearly as old as Tsunade but -apparently and amusingly so- more stubborn than the short-tempered woman. She didn't quite get why that was important, but then again she figured she may need to deal with him on more than one topic he may not be too keen on participating in.

She sighed heavily when she finished, placing the papers on the table.

She felt something was wrong with this village. She knew it wasn't her business to know the history, that she was only needed for medical purposes, but her ninja instinct was kicking in to tell her that there was something_ fishy_going on. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

'Tsunade wouldn't send me on a mission if she thought something was wrong with it.'

She had a _lot_ of packing to do before she left at 6 the next morning.

Timeframe: Four Days Later

'Civilization is such a beautiful thing,' Sakura thought as the entrance to Hitmitsuzuka appeared in her line of vision. 'Man, I'm so pathetic!' she mentally whined.

Alright, so she hadn't been on a mission in a few months due to her husband's death. Big deal. That was something she expected. The fact that she'd forgotten what it was like to camp outside in nature surrounded by buzzing insects and pitch black darkness was incredibly sad considering she used to wish she could live outside. She used to think nature was something extraordinary. The woods gave her a feeling of comfort and the flowers and fields invited her to lay down and absorb the warmth the sun provided.

How was it possible that in less than half a year of staying in the village, she went from nature expert to girl scout beginner? Not to mention that she felt she was being watched the entire time. She blamed it on her lack of a partner. Ever since Kakashi passed away, being alone always made her feel like she was being watched. Spending four days by herself in the forest didn't help her any.

With a sigh and a shake of her head, she trudged forward, rummaging through her pocket for her ID and passport. The two village men standing watch at the gate eyed her suspiciously as she came closer. She gave a small sound of triumph as her fingers wrapped around the card that held her information on it. She held it out to the man on the left who looked at it cautiously. With a nod and a bright smile, he stepped aside to let her through.

"Welcome to Hitmitsuzuka, Mrs. Hatake," he greeted. "We're very grateful that you've accepted our request and have come to help us!"

Sakura smiled back warmly, though it was just as fake as this man. According to this man, she'd already found that some of her assumptions from the papers she received from Tsunade were correct. If this village was small, not found on any map, and harmless, why would they need guards? Civilian guards, but guards no less. The feeling she had before she left that trailed along the entire time she was away from Konoha was returning.

Kakashi had always said it's smarter for a shinobi to think too much of something than to ignore it until it's too late. She kept the smile up as she stored his words and her thoughts in the back of her head. She'd think things through a little more when she got some time to herself.

"If you'll follow me," the second man said softly with an equally as soft smile, "I'll show you to the inn you'll be residing in and let you rest. Your journey must've been quite tiring."

Sakura nodded and silently followed the second man, bowing politely to the first. When she passed through the gates, she didn't expect to see so many people. She knew that over a hundred people could easily make a crowd, but she didn't think she'd see the majority of that number in children and teens running around on the streets. There was adults scattered about the main path, supervising the activities and doing various things like sweeping and knitting and playing cards.

The moment Sakura and the man came into sight, the adults bowed, one by one, and the children stopped playing, parting down the center to let them pass through. Sakura blinked in surprise and her step faltered briefly. However these kids were raised, she wanted to know so she could tell Tsunade. Sakura smiled gently at the children, her own subtle attempt to get them to move back and continue their playtime.

The farther down the path she was taken, she more she realized how much bigger this village was than she'd figured it would be. There were small shops along the roads with friendly owners waiting outside for customers. On the right, there was a small building that couldn't have been bigger than her own home. She figured this was the one the man wanted her to stay in while she helped the village. They slowed to a stop and the man ushered her inside, helping her take her packs off and handing them to a young looking -though middle-aged- woman with a nod.

'They seem to nod quite a bit here,' she thought, eyes searching the room.

The entrance was designed much like a home. She wouldn't be surprised if this actually _was_ someone's home. It looked comfortable with soft blues and light greys. Flowers were dried and hanging beside patchwork and embroidered cloth in frames. Everything looked like something straight out of a children's picturebook. She spotted the stairs, a thin but fluffy navy colored carpet lining the steps.

The man turned to Sakura, lightly shaking her to get her attention.

"This is where you'll be staying. I'll leave everything to Mrs. Richards, here. Hope to see you again."

He was out of the house before Sakura could say good-bye.

'Richards?'

The pink haired woman looked at the middle aged woman in front of her, bags beside her. Sakura blinked in surprise, taking in the features of the woman. It suddenly made sense why the name sounded foreign. Mrs. Richards _was_foreign. She was American.

"Hello. I'm-"

"Mrs. Haruno, yes. I'm honored to have you stay here and very pleased that you're willing to help us out," she explained cheerfully.

Sakura smiled in response, this one not so fake because Mrs. Richards appeared to be genuine.

"Anything to help," Sakura said. "I hate seeing people hurt without anyone there to provide them with the medicine they need."

Mrs. Richards nodded and picked up Sakura's bags again.

"Why don't I show you to your room?" she offered, gesturing to the carpet-clad stairs. "I'm sure you'd like a nice bath before you get some rest. Four days on the hard ground isn't good for your back, you know," she continued, moving up the stairs with Sakura behind her.

She was shown to a room the same blue color as the rest of the house. There was a bed, a dresser, a desk, and a television. The bathroom had blue and purple butterflies chasing each other on the white tiles. There was a mirror and a bathtub as well as a shower. Mrs. Richards nodded her head in place of a bow and Sakura thanked her. Closing the door to the bathroom and locking it, she mentally thanked the older woman again for leaving the bags in the bathroom.

Sliding over to the shower, she turned the hot water on, feeling a bit too tired to sit in a tempting bath without worrying that she might fall asleep. Stripping from her clothing, she jumped into the shower with her shampoo and soap. Soon the smells of strawberry -from her shampoo- and lavender -from her soap- filled the small bathroom. Within minutes she had managed to ease most of her muscles and had completely cleaned herself.

With a squeak of the knob turning, she squeezed the water from her hair and proceeded to dry off and get dressed. Clad in black shorts and a blood red tank top, she grabbed her bags and exited the bathroom. She headed back into her room, closing the door behind her. Sakura tossed the bags in the corner before plopping down on the warm and inviting bed. She hadn't felt this refreshed in a long time. Her exhaustion caught up with her quicker than it had in the bathroom and her eyes fluttered closed, beginning to lull her into sleep.

Kakashi's voice popped up from the back of her head, effectively waking her up. But she thought back to the entrance of the village. Emerald eyes snapped open and Sakura shot up, eyes wide.

"Mrs. Hatake," she whispered, her shinobi senses starting to go off.

She suddenly realized that the man at the gate had called her _Mrs. Hatake_.

"How would he know that?"

She had never taken Kakashi's last name.

Screams signaled Sakura's shinobi alarms to heighten, causing the woman to jump from the bed and dive for her bag with her kunai pouch. Strapping the pack to her thigh, she pulled a kunai out, holding it between her fingers, slowly moving towards the window. Her eyes searched out through the sudden chaos outside and what she saw nearly made her drop her weapon.

Screaming children, crying, and panicking adults ushering the kids past the home she was staying at. She let her eyes follow the crowd up the street and she noticed the outline of a large building forming a dead end. Her eyes narrowed at the sight. She hadn't seen that building there before! What the hell was going on?

A red and black blur landed on the rooftop across from her. Sakura's eyes strained to see through the darkening atmosphere but she stumbled back at the object.

Akatsuki.

He was from Akatsuki. There was no mistaking the black cloak with white rimmed red clouds. Sakura felt her heart grip with fear. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle one by herself and at the rate these people were going, she had a pretty good feeling that this guy wasn't alone. What could she do? She was the only one who could possibly leave a mark on one of these guys but the probability of her surviving through a fight wasn't leading her outside.

"Shit!" she whispered, closing her eyes and sliding down the wall. "What the hell do I do? And why the _hell_ is everyone going in one direction-especially when the exit is the _other_ way!"

Her eyes snapped open at the realization.

"Wait, _what_? The exit's the other way, so why would they head toward the building?"

She jumped to her feet and raced to her bag, pulling out her black coat with pockets filled with small weapons and tiny scrolls as well as the information she was given regarding her mission. Slipping it on she exited the room, rushing down the stairs -and more or less forgetting about the woman who was in the house- before leaving through the door. The second her foot hit outside, the mob of people nearly knocked her over. Catching her balance, her eyes darted around, searching for something, and she made damn well sure that she hid her chakra. She didn't want to die just yet, nor did she want to do so without first discovering why the Akatsuki would be there in the first place.

Blending in was her only option, so she tucked away her kunai, making sure to cover her thigh with the long coat, and ran with the crowd, heading up the road to the mysterious building people were disappearing into. However, the farther up she got, she realized that not only was the building not coming any closer, but the people in front of her were stopping and attempting to back up. Sakura stopped running and squirmed her way through the group, trying to move further up to see what was making everyone stop.

Another flash of red and black made _her_ stop. She froze, looking around. She met the sight of one incredibly tall shark-like man with an equally as large sword strapped across his broad back beside a blonde haired man -at least she_thought_ it was a man- stood beside him, scanning the crowd. His single blue eye moved to her and paused, and she suddenly took an awkward step back before his gaze moved elsewhere.

'_What the hell is going on? Let's just kick some damn ass already!'_

Sakura shushed her Inner self and looked around, hoping to find something that could pose as a distraction while she tried to catch one of the two men ahead unaware.

"To the people of the village Hitmitsuzuka, you are no longer villagers here...yeah," the blonde man shouted over the panic.

Sakura's eyes narrowed at the comment. No longer villagers here?

"This village now belongs to the Akatsuki...yeah."

'What the? What's so special about this village that _they_ need to be here?' Sakura hissed mentally.

She noted a few random people getting angry and someone made to complain. Sakura didn't have time to blink before his head was cleanly sliced off with a katana that appeared out of nowhere. She took another step back without realizing she did.

"Anyone else have any problems?" the sharkman asked, smirking darkly.

Sakura couldn't stop staring at the falling corpse. What did they want here? Why were they _telling_ people they were taking over instead of just killing them? What the hell was going on! Another man and yet another man were impaled for trying to voice their opinions. Sakura's fists clenched. How could they do this? She didn't understand and if they killed anyone else, she might as well just ask for a few minutes to dig her grave before she attempted anything, knowing she'd find her head ten feet away from her soon. However, no one seemed to be listening to her thoughts and three more men were killed.

'_That_'s it!' she thought.

"**Let them go.**"

Every noise that could be made was silenced and heads turned to face the pink haired woman who was now gripping a kunai in her hand, ready for an attacking katana. None came. Her furious jade eyes met with the single cerulean eye of the blonde man. He raised a brow at her outburst and nudged the sharkman beside him.

"Looks like we've got a cute one...yeah," he whispered.

"What authority do _you_ have? In case you haven't noticed, _pinky_, we're the ones in charge," the blue-skinned man explained, grinning. "You have a problem with us being here? Fight us and see how far you'll get."

Sakura opened her mouth to make a comeback and to nail him for calling her 'pinky' but the blonde cut her off before she could say anything.

"Exactly...yeah. Now, if you'll all kindly follow Kisame here to the building down the road, we'll consider keeping half of you alive...yeah."

The blonde was gone in a flash and Sakura looked confused. Why had he even bothered to keep everyone alive? And why hadn't they killed her for saying something when they killed the rest of those who made a point? It couldn't have been because she was a woman. They didn't have that much honor. They were cold blooded killers afterall. She couldn't think of something to say as the group hesitantly pushed forward, hoping to extend their lives for a few minutes by following the sharkman silently. Sakura stood still as she watched everyone move. For the fiftieth time that night she wanted to know what was going on.

So, finding that she suddenly felt like a complete and total idiot for standing up when she had no chance of surviving, she slowly followed, making sure to stay near the center. Everyone was taken to the building which turned out to be a rather large warehouse. The doors were opened and everyone was shoved inside without further directions other than to refrain from making too much noise and to keep themselves inside and not try to escape.

Naturally, the second the doors were shut, the children started crying and shaking. Sakura pushed aside all thoughts of reasons why they were still alive and decided to see if she could get everyone to settle down and take care of the children. It surprised her, however, when she made a move to pass by the people beside her. They were all looking at her expectantly, like she would know exactly what to do. Sakura paused for a moment, thinking about what she should say.

"Alright, first off, does anyone have any idea as to why the Akatsuki would be here?" Sakura asked over the crying and sniffling.

She was met with silence and shaken heads. She sighed.

"Great. _Real_ helpful," she muttered, scanning the room.

"When do you plan on fighting them?" a random woman asked.

Sakura blinked.

"Fight?" she relayed, hoping she'd heard right.

The woman nodded.

"Yes. You _are_ a ninja, aren't you?"

Sakura nodded.

"Yes, but you're missing the entire ranking scheme here," Sakura explained. "Just fighting one of them would take at least a dozen of me, and I've already gotten a count of six so far, and I don't even know how strong each is. I can't just go running off to fight them even if I am a kunoichi."

"Then what good are you?"

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek before she lashed out. Now wasn't the time for that.

"I'm a medic, got it? I came here to provide medical service, _not_ save you from some random attack," she ground out. "But I'm trained for some of these situations, so if all of you would simply sit still, be quiet, control the children, and leave the rest to me, I can promise you they won't go on a killing rampage just for amusement."

"But I still don't understand why you just don't kill them by surprise when they come in here," another person asked, this one a man.

"Negotiate first, fight second," Sakura said with a sigh. "You're sure you have nothing that would prompt that Akatsuki's appearance?" she double-checked.

She got the same answer as the first time she asked. With another heavy sigh she noticed that some of the children were prying away from the other adults to go cry near Sakura. The woman sat down and was soon surrounded by sniffling and sobbing little kids. One that was trembling badly was picked up by Sakura and placed in her lap. With soothing words and comforting caresses, the kid eventually stopped crying -how long it took Sakura didn't know- and was sleeping peacefully in her arms.

With a look around, Sakura noted that most of the people in the warehouse were either asleep already or drifting into the slumber she so grudgingly wished she could find. Sakura knew that even if she wanted to -and yes she did want to. Hadn't she been just about to go to sleep before the damn screaming started?- she couldn't get to sleep. Her adrenaline was still pumping, even after it had been what she'd now assumed was an hour or so later. She couldn't lie to her senses and say that the danger was gone, to let her sleep.

She didn't even have to.

The door to the warehouse squeaked and crunched with rust as it opened, spilling moonlight into the dimly lit area. The blonde from earlier walked through the opening, looking around. Sakura watched him carefully before noting no one had moved. No one had heard the loud noise that signaled the entry of one of the Akatsuki men. The blue eye landed on her and she glared at its owner. His lips curved up into an amused smirk and he started walking over the sleeping bodies towards her. The man smoothly slid into a crouch in front of her, staring at her in a way that made her even more uncomfortable.

"Deidara...yeah."

His hand moved out in front of her and Sakura looked at him, confused.

'Is he joking?'

He wasn't moving, though something in his eyes told her he was expecting this. Hesitantly, Sakura lifted her hand to gently touch his. When he didn't make any sort of move to hurt her, she wrapped her entire hand around his, shaking it.

'_Alright, he's not bad! Pretty cool, actually!_'

Sakura brought her hand back and looked at Deidara strangely.

"So at least one of you is human," she muttered. "So," she raised her voice slightly, "what is it that you want with the village?"

He smiled brightly at her, one that reminded her of a certain ramen-eating Hokage wannabe.

"Why don't we take a walk?...yeah," he offered, hands reaching to gently pull the little girl away from Sakura.

She was startled at his words.

"Are you for real?" Sakura asked skeptically, nearly giving in to the temptation of poking him to support her theory that he was, in fact, an illusion.

She settled for pointing her finger at him instead. His grin got wider -which she couldn't find herself believing to be possible- and he wrapped a hand around one of hers, hoisting her up with him. She gave a loud shriek at the contact and the sudden jerking of her body. Once again, no one made any move to indicate they had been woken up or heard the sound. She took a cautious step back, careful not to step on any children.

"As real as you...yeah," he said with a chuckle. "Now come on...yeah. We've got to get going before someone sees...yeah."

Deidara began to walk around the bodies once again as he moved closer to the exit. Sakura stood frozen for a few moments, taking in his words. Immediately after she processed them she nearly leapt after him. She darted around the bodies and arrived by his side.

"What do you mean 'before someone sees'?" she asked, once again temptation popping up but this time to add 'yeah' to the end. "Aren't you going to get into major trouble for busting me out of here?"

They exited the warehouse and he closed the door, the same noises permeating the otherwise silent darkness. They walked a few steps forward before she thought to ask him again.

"I meant before someone in the warehouse sees us...yeah," he clarified.

Sakura stopped and looked at the blonde, hand drifting down to hover over her thigh. She saw him stop a few feet in front of her as if he just realized she wasn't following him any longer. He looked at her over his shoulder.

"You _did_ tell me to let them-" he jerked a finger towards the warehouse, "-go, so I'm taking you to meet with our leader to negotiate...yeah. Afterall, didn't you say 'Negotiate first, fight second'?"

Sakura's eyes widened.

"You're not just going to slit my throat and put me on some sick display?" she asked, moving closer to him slowly.

He chuckled and shook his head. He slid an arm around her shoulders when she got close enough, immediately feeling her tense but not showing that he knew.

"We're the Akatsuki, pinky. We'd come up with something a lot more creative than that...yeah."

Sakura gulped.

"Lovely."

Deidara guided Sakura to one of the many small buildings on the road, letting her go in first. She moved in, nearly feeling suffocated by the overpowering chakra levels. She briefly wondered if Deidara actually knew if she was a ninja or not. She doubted he didn't, but he was treating her a little too nicely and making her believe he thought she was a civilian. A light was turned on and Sakura immediately closed her eyes and blocked it with her arm.

Within a few seconds she heard chuckling and slowly removed her arm. Deidara moved in front of her after locking the door and she counted at least eight men all clad in the traditional Akatsuki robes. She had a _very_ bad feeling about this.

"How kind of you to join us, Miss Haruno," a raspy voice coming from a black masked man greeted her. "I've been hearing nothing but the best."

Sakura looked at the other men. They knew who she was. There went half of her theories.

"Why are you here? What's so important about this village that you need to take it over?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "And why would you bother to keep them alive? You certainly didn't have a problem with killing them for standing up to you. Though you didn't bother to kill me when I told you to let them go."

"Glad to see that much of her reputation is correct...yeah," Deidara piped in.

"So you knew who I was from that moment?"

"Before that," Kisame barked.

Sakura's brows furrowed. Before that? But she hadn't seen any of them before that, unless they had been in and around the village the entire time and she never sensed them. She didn't have a clue that-

"Crap."

Several chuckles filtered through her ears at her response, but she was too busy piecing everything together to really notice it.

"There isn't a hospital here," Sakura said slowly. "That warehouse wasn't there before, either. The papers said there were approximately 130 people living here, yet none of them are over 35 and the majority of the population is children under 14. And my name," she tilted her head up, looking at the black masked man. "My passport still says _Haruno_, not Hatake. It has no indication that I was married, especially that I'd changed my last name."

The grins on some of the faces she could see scared her. She was getting all of this right? Was she on the right track? Had this all really been just a set-up to get her there even though she didn't know what they'd want from her?

"And the leader of this village. Tsukakai..._wait a second!_"

Swiftly she wrenched open her coat, hand darting for the rolled up papers. She flipped through the pages to the second last sheet, smoothing it out over her thigh. The leader's name stood out and she scanned the letters quickly in her head.

"Shit!" she swore, stomping her foot down and simultaneously throwing the papers on the floor. "God _damnit_!"

Her fingers ran through her bangs, stopping to fist the pink strands at the beginning of her scalp. She could've avoided this altogether had she just paid a little more attention!

"A-K-A-T-S-U-K fucking_ I_! I saw it and I didn't even- damn_it_!"

While the men in the room were incredibly amused by the swearing woman beating herself up for having overlooked something everyone would've made the same mistake on, Sakura was just about ready to pummel anything that got too close to her. Yes, _anything_. She still wasn't sure if sharkboy was human even though she knew he had one of the demons in him. It was common sense after befriending the Kyuubi holder and Gaara, both having physical traits that belonged to their demons. But his case was entirely different from the other two.

"If you're quite through with your immature display, I'd like to get on with this."

Sakura froze with her fist halfway to the wall. Her eyes widened slightly and she spun around to see the face of the new person who spoke. She was met with a man sitting casually in a chair with his red sharingan activated and his ebony hair in a ponytail. His face was emotionless. He was handsome. He didn't look a day older than when she saw him last.

Sakura felt like hitting her head against the wall but settled for banging her palm against her forehead.

"How the hell did I forget _you_?" she muttered to herself.

She swore again before letting her hand drop to her side. Now it was starting to make more sense. The sharingan, when used too often, eventually made the user blind. Sakura was titled to be the best medic in the world. Akatsuki wanted her to fix his eyes. But even that theory seemed a bit off. They wouldn't have gone through all of this trouble just to get her to fix his eyes. They could've easily taken her in the village or when she was training. No, this was something different.

"What do you want me for?" she snapped. "To heal your eyes? Tell you about Naruto? About Sasuke?"

"While it's nice to know it'll be easier to deal with you since you have that information, what we're looking for doesn't apply to the Kyuubi, Sasuke, or my eyes," Itachi explained tonelessly.

Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"One. Don't refer to Naruto as the Kyuubi. Naruto is Naruto, and the Kyuubi is _inside_ Naruto, but he's still _Naruto_. Two. Don't try to blow off those things because they aren't your first priority. Stop being a bastard and tell me everything you're expecting me to do. Lay it all out for me to hear otherwise I'm gone," she hissed.

She saw the corner of Itachi's lips quirk up and amusement light up his crimson eyes. He moved to stand quietly, taking calculated steps towards her.

"The last time I saw you, you were such a polite little thing. What happened?"

Sakura barely suppressed a growl in the back of her throat.

"Well, I'll break it to you easy. You see, there's this new thing society's come up with. You don't play nice with the person who murdered your _husband_."

Oh yes. Itachi was the one who killed Kakashi. Sakura had been depressed afterwards, of course, but she had made it a silent promise that Sasuke would have some competition. She wanted Itachi to die by her hand. If she failed, she'd die happy having tried to take revenge. She'd have died honorably, just like her silver-haired husband. She couldn't exactly just start attacking Itachi without everyone else fighting her, too. Verbal abuse would lead to something, hopefully. And that was all she had left. Hope.

"Hn. No wonder you're so weak."

Sakura did let the growl escape this time.

"Typical Uchiha response. I'm startin' to think that for such a genius, your vocabulary is incredibly _limited_."

He stopped about three feet in front of her, fully intending to stare her down or threaten her with his Tsukuyomi. Hell, he'd have fun messing with her. It was in his nature to do just that, afterall. He couldn't care less about feelings or emotions. The only weakness he enjoyed in others was fear. To be feared made him feel on top of the world. Intimidating others and making them suffer from their fear was just about better than any present he could ever receive.

"So if I'm not here for _you_, what am I here for?"

Itachi's tiny smirk grew and her shiver didn't get missed by him.

"You're here to fix Kisame."

Sakura snapped her attention over to the crowd of men.

"The one that has blue skin?" she asked.

Itachi nodded.

"What do you expect me to do? Any problem he has can be fixed or healed by his demon," she said matter-of-factly. "If the demon doesn't do it, then what makes you think _I_ could? Just a reminder, I'm not exactly prancing around with an unlimited supply of chakra," she stated sarcastically.

"Therein lies the problem."

"What, his _demon_?" she nearly laughed. "No, seriously, what is it I'm supposed to do?"

Itachi's smirk became a little more sadistic.

"You're here to fix Kisame by fixing his demon."

Sakura felt all the blood drain from her face as she glanced back at the towering sword holder on the other side of the room. They wanted her to heal a demon? That didn't make any sense at all.

"Naruto can tap into the Kyuubi's chakra at will," Itachi explained, causing the pink haired woman to turn her attention back to him. "Kisame can't access Isonade's chakra. We need him to."

I give you the very first chapter of 'Unfortunate Circumstances'! So, how'd you like it? Was it good? So I've explained a lot at the top. Here's some more.

The OC, Mrs. Richards, is obviously American. Before you go all out on me for putting America in there when it's not, I suggest you watch episode 193. The man the woman's supposed to marry knows how to speak American. The woman also brags about how amazing he is because he can speak American. If you don't remember, go to YouTube, type in 'naruto episode 193', and watch it. Believe me, you'll laugh till you pee your pants. Though that _does_ tend to happen when you pair off Naruto and Ino for a stupid mission.

Also, although it is listed in the 9 Biju on wikipedia the names and a brief description of each, Isonade is not listed, though it matches too closely to Kisame including his Samehada. Therefore, Kisame has Isonade in him. So here you are!

Don't forget to review! Tell me what you think of this! Till later!

Backlash Symphony


	2. Arc 1: Terms of the Deal

Story Title: Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter Title: 2. Terms of the Deal

Chapter 2 of 11

Arc 1 of 4

Pairing: ItachiSakuraKisame

Rating: M (Swearing, Later chapters)

Author: Backlash Symphony

Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More epecifically, Kisame.ItaSakuKis

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Do you think I'd be writing this stuff if I did? Didn't think so.

Extra: Did I mention how hard it is to write short chapters? I don't think I did. It's hard. Really, really, _really_ hard. But I tend to not be able to have as many cliff hangers when my chapters are my usual 30-40 page length, so I'll have to put up with it for now.

As far as my sources go, I'm well aware Kisame doesn't have Isonade despite the fact that I've never read the manga. However, for people who only rely on the anime, I'm pretty positive we've never heard anything saying otherwise to the theory. So I've been thinking about what I could do and I hope I've figured it out. The Isonade is not actually one of the 9 Biju. End of story. More on the topic will be shown later in this chapter so read on!

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke: 20

Itachi, Kabuto: 26

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade: 58

**The name of the village used is Hitmitsuzuka. It means 'House of Secrets'. I did not create this name on my own. All ownership belongs to Theif of the Sand who gave me permission to use it.**

Text means normal writing.

'Text' means thoughts.

_'Text' _mean Inner Sakura's thoughts.

**Text** means flashback.

Here we go!

* * *

Jade eyes grew darker as Sakura's brain absorbed the information she was being fed from Itachi. Kisame was the one who needed her medical expertise, not Itachi. But despite her incredible reputation as a medic, Sakura had no idea how someone with such a high level of intelligence like Itachi could think it was possible for a medic who has limited chakra to use could fix a demon. She didn't understand his line of thinking in the slightest. 

"So how do you expect me to heal a demon?" she asked in a whisper, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"You're the medic. You're the one who needs to figure it out," Itachi explained.

"It's not possible," Sakura protested.

"You're just being obstinate," Itachi said, annoyed.

Sakura rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Who's the medic here, Uchiha? Not you. I'm telling you right now it is _not_ possible to heal a demon!" her voice rose a bit.

She watched Itachi close his eyes and immediately put her mental guard up. If the stories from Kakashi and Naruto were accurate, his closed eyes indicated he was planning on using Tsukuyomi. Kakashi had trained her as best as he could without putting her through the actual attack considering he didn't even have it but with what she'd learned and what she'd researched, she figured she'd have a decent chance at defending herself. It was a genjutsu no matter how complicated the details were. Every genjutsu had a release and she had sworn she would discover the one for the Sharingan.

Taking a cautious step back, she prepared herself so that she could look away before using her mind to block. Not even a second after his eyes began to open. Her head snapped to the side, gaze focused on the ground. She heard him sigh.

"I'm not going to use it on you," he said slightly amused.

Sakura didn't turn back immediately, opting to keep her head in the other direction for a few more moments. Slowly, she shifted back to her original position with the exception of her eyes still staring at the ground.

"You seem to be getting the task at hand confused with something else," he said calmly.

"Is that right? So I'm doing something _other_ than healing a demon?" she muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Healing isn't exactly the right word...yeah," Deidara piped.

Itachi nodded his head, arms coming up to cross over his chest much like Sakura already had.

"You're connecting the demon with Kisame...yeah," the blonde clarified.

The entire situation hadn't changed her confusion one bit for the better. She was still in the same mindset as she was when she first walked through the door. She shook her head and lowered her arms to her sides, one hand curling around her hip. She brought her gaze to meet with Deidara's.

"But that doesn't explain why you want _me_. I wouldn't know what the first thing to do would be. It's not even a medical problem and I don't even think it's _possible_," she explained in a frustrated tone. "If the demon has been in him and it hasn't shown any signs of existence apart from the physical portrayal then..."

'Wait, that's right. Why does he look so much like the demon if he has nothing else from the demon? Naruto only has the six whisker-like markings on his cheeks and the Kyuubi is at least three times more powerful than Isonade. Gaara only had the black rings and I thought Shukaku had two less tails than Isonade...'

During her thoughts, her head had lowered and she unconciously brought her hands forward and was counting on her fingers. She closed her eyes briefly before looking up and walking around Itachi towards the table. Rummaging through her many pockets she extracted a pen and the papers concerning her mission, flipping them over to the blank side. Ignoring the looks she was receiving -she had always been like this whenever she was trying to figure something out. Usually Tsunade had to slap the back of her head to get her to drop the subject- she stopped next to Deidara and spread the papers out.

With her pen, she marked down the name of the one-tailed demon on the first sheet of paper and the name 'Shukaku'. Under the name she wrote 'Gaara'. Alongside his name she wrote 'Black eyerings'. The next sheet she wrote down 'Nekomata'. Under that she wrote 'Yugito'. Skipping the trait of partial resemblance since she couldn't remember it, she moved to the next paper, marking down the information for the Sanbi and whizzing through new pieces of paper all the way to the Kyuubi.

She paused, looking back for the paper for Isonade and realizing she hadn't created one. Scanning the sheets slowly once again, she came to the same conclusion. She knew the list by heart having gone on a research rampage once she discovered Naruto was the carrier of the Kyuubi. She shook her head, whispering something under her breath before filtering through the other papers she hadn't touched only to find them all blank. She placed her hand over the Sanbi page.

"It's supposed to be..." she whispered, slowly drawing her hand away from the sheet.

She didn't know how many minutes she spent staring at the sketch she'd drawn of the Sanbi. She didn't know how many times she'd gone over the right answer to all of this in her mind since it continually refused to click. She didn't know that with each passing second, her body was shaking more and more violently.

It had started out with just her fingers occasionally twitching. Then her entire hand started to jerk. Her arms started shaking lightly before her upper body began to. After a few more seconds her entire body was shaking and it only continued to get worse. By now she was trembling so badly the pages under her hands were crinkling.

"Are you alright?...yeah," Deidara asked in genuine concern, the tips of his fingers brushing her shoulder.

With a half gasp, half cry, she bolted away from the table and rocketed past Itachi, already out the door and onto the roof before anyone could register what she'd done. Itachi was the first to recover from the rapid action and exited hurriedly, racing onto the rooftops to pursue Sakura. Deidara and Kisame followed after him, splitting so that Deidara followed the same side Itachi was on and Kisame took a left instead of a right. The remaining members split to help catch the pink haired widow. Sakura moved considerably fast in her exhausted state. Itachi nodded to Deidara who nodded back and slowed to a halt. He made a turn to the left and continued that way while Itachi followed straight ahead.

Sakura was forcing chakra into the soles of her feet at such a rate that she'd pass out within an hour. But escape was the only thing occupying her mind. A dozen more leaps and she'd hit the entrance to the village. She could feel the tears rimming her eyes and her arms were still trembling. The terror that was coursing through her veins faster and more painful than poison was greater than the fear she had been subjected to back during the chuunin exams with Orochimaru's attack on herself and Sasuke. What she'd come to realize about not only the biju but the Akatsuki had caused her heart to stop for about three seconds before it started to pulse madly.

**(1)**She knew Akatsuki was powerful. Everyone knew that. What she'd failed to realize through her dictionary and archive-like brain was that Isonade was commonly mistaken for one of the great tailed beasts due to his power. When she noticed she'd marked down the Sanbi, she had slowly come to understand that the Sanbi was the one and only three-tailed _biju_. Isonade wasn't any old biju. Isonade was the only one of the two refrenced to the _water god_. So if the Akatsuki could capture a _demon god_, the normal biju must be simple. If that was the case, then why did it take so long?

She figured it was all a show. She thought they were planning something once they'd captured all the remaining biju. They were pretending to not have as much power as they actually did. Sakura recalled how difficult it was for Gaara to control Shukaku, a _one_ tailed biju. The only reason Naruto was alright was because he and the Kyuubi worked _together_. If the Kyuubi had decided it wanted to break free from Naruto, the seal continuously weakening wouldn't be all that hard to break completely. Naruto's constant tenacious attitude would be the only thing keeping the Kyuubi from completely destroying everything. That and the Kyuubi wasn't actually all that bad.

If Sakura could successfully connect Isonade to Kisame, she'd claim responsibility for the destruction of the world. Nothing would be able to control Kisame if he couldn't dominate the demon inside of him. The probability of Kisame pulling that off? She had a higher chance of getting Sasuke to admit he loved her. She refused to help them. There was nothing in the world that could make her.

She was so close to the gate now and had leapt off of the roof to the street. Just as she landed another body collided with hers. She felt arms wrap around her stomach and chest, pulling her back into a solid chest. She froze momentarily before she twisted violently in the hold, body jerking in multiple directions at once in the hopes that she would be released. She didn't _dare_ shout out for fear of more of the S-Class criminals flocking to the scene. That would mean she'd have absolutely _no_ chance at escaping. At least with this one person she could get a lucky shot in before she hauled ass out of there.

Or so she thought.

When she finally managed to break free from the man's hold, she spun around to see who her attacker was. None other than Itachi Uchiha looked down at her with his crimson eyes. She hadn't been expecting _him_. Deidara or Kisame, maybe, but not _him_. The tears she'd had begging for release were granted their wish at the sight of Itachi. She knew he'd think or say she was weak but she couldn't force herself to care at the moment. She couldn't understand why she wasn't attacking or why she wasn't running. She was falling.

Her knees hit the dirt road, small clouds of the soil puffing around her legs. Her legs spread apart, causing her butt to hit the ground. Her hands clenched the earth between her thighs as tremors shook her near-silently crying frame. Itachi quietly sat in front of her, knees upright and spread apart as he watched the crying woman between his legs letting out soft gasps in place of exhales of oh-so-needed breath.

He studied her body without making a sound, ears tuned in to the soft plops her wet tears made when they fell onto the dry dirt. He listened to her quiet pants and gasps and watched her pink hair as it hung over her down-turned face. Eventually he leaned forward, scooting closer so that her knees were inches away from his thighs. His hand extended from its position on his knee to gently wrap his fingers around half of the strands of hair covering her face. He saw her body become rigid before she slowly raised her head to gaze at him questioningly. He gave her no verbal response, only keeping eye contact with her, as he tucked the hair behind her ear, smoothing it down.

He offered her no kind words or smile. He didn't insult her, however, merely holding back from saying anything. It bothered her how close they actually were but despite the fact that she had no trust concerning this man, she knew she could at least trust him not to try to rape her or perform any acts in relation to that. Her tears slowed as the seconds pressed on. His hand cupped the side of her head, right underneath her ear. His thumb was able to reach the drying tears on her smooth cheek. She half expected him to start wiping them away but he refrained from doing so.

The three black dots in each of his eyes slowly began to circle around his pupil. Sakura was beginning to feel more and more relaxed. Her tears stopped completely and her upper body leaned forward just a bit more, her weight settling on her now open hands. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the slight quirk of Itachi's lips but thought nothing of it. Come to think of it, it was incredibly difficult to do just that.

She felt his hand slide down the side of her neck, thumb lightly following the curve of her throat and pausing at the dip above her collarbone, feeling her fluttering pulse. Knowing just how much damage he could do with his thumb -also he knew the temptation was there- he moved his entire hand to wrap around the back of her neck. Thumb and middle finger pressing down in the same gentle manner as before, he slowly eased the still somewhat tense muscles into the relaxed state the rest of her body was in.

"Why are you touching me like this?" she asked in a hushed tone, finding herself unable to raise her voice all that high.

"You're relaxing, aren't you?"

She could hear the light amusement in his voice.

"I can't do it," she mumbled, coming close to choking on her words.

He was silent for a few moments, fingers still gently rubbing the tender skin of her neck. He had expected some sort of an answer like this. She was loyal to her village, after all. He knew she was stubborn otherwise and he supposed that somewhere incredibly deep down inside of him, a part of him that somehow managed to remain good, he felt bad for her. But of course that was a very tiny part of him. Most of him enjoyed the fact that he was going to make her suffer. His reputed self control kicked in from allowing him to do something now he'd regret later.

"Can't? Or _won't_?"

She managed to tear her gaze from his captivating eyes, looking down. She saw him lean closer and felt his breath on her ear.

"Both," she admitted. "He'll kill everyone, including you. Why would _you_ want someone stronger than you anyway? Besides, your power is natural. Giving Kisame the demon only to have it not connect with him is telling you something."

"Telling me what?" he whispered.

"If the demon is refusing to mold with Kisame, it means the demon either believes Kisame is not worthy enough to hold it or that the demon knows _you_ are up to something and is acting in a form of protection," she explained. "It could also still be dormant. Just because he's inside Kisame doesn't mean he's awake."

She shifted her head forward so his fingers wouldn't be on her any longer but they remained on her neck.

"But you don't know for sure if that's the case or not," he said. "You're holding back because you don't want to help the people in charge of killing Hatake. Those of us in Akatsuki are known for our will power, Sakura. If it backfires, we kill him. It's as simple as that," he told her.

"So you'd get rid of him if he's no good?" she scoffed. "Why would you go through all this trouble to get him 'fixed' if you're planning on it backfiring so you can kill him?"

"We trust in your abilities to make it work," he said simply, fingers slipping into the very base of her hair.

"If you keep touching me like that I'm going to think you only killed Kakashi so _you_ could have me," she half hissed, half growled.

She heard his deep, throaty chuckle next to her ear and the clear amusement in his tone.

"Don't flatter yourself." She gave a cry as her head was roughly forced to face him. "You're nothing special."

At that moment half a dozen bodies surrounded the pair and Sakura's head snapped up. She swore under her breath at her stupidty. She had let Itachi pull her in to his Sharingan and get her to cooperate through meaningless discussion and relaxing touches he had probably practiced in his head for weeks. He was on his feet in an instant and was walking away from her. Had Sakura been able to see his face, she would have seen the smirk Sasuke had always had whenever he proved he was better than Naruto.

"Good work, Itachi...yeah," Deidara nodded to the Uchiha and received a nod in response.

"Sakura, let me put it this way. You have skills we need. If it gets to the point of doing so, I won't hesitate to force you to cooperate," Itachi said from somewhere behind her.

She shook her head defiantly, closing her legs.

"I still refuse," she stated firmly.

"What about a deal?...yeah," Deidara suggested.

"There's nothing you could give me that would be the equivalent of the work I'd be doing for you," she protested stubbornly.

"Your husband."

Sakura's head shot up and she spun around, weight on one knee.

"What do you mean? He's dead."

Deidara shrugged and tilted his head toward the night sky.

"He doesn't have to be...yeah."

Sakura's eyes rose to look at the single cerulean one star-gazing. Slowly she got to her feet, jade eyes unblinking. She took silent steps toward the blonde and ignored the intimidating auras surrounding her. No one expected for her arm to shoot out, fingers wrapping around the fabric of his shirt right at his neck. She forced him forward and saw his lone eye widen in surprise.

"Say that again," she growled.

He blinked at her and opened his mouth in question.

"_Say it again and look at me when you do_!" she hissed giving a harsh tug to his shirt.

He never got the chance to before Itachi ripped her arm off of Deidara and dragged her a few feet away from the blonde. His arms wrapped around her in a similar fashion to the way he had held her earlier that evening. This time he put more strength into holding her as she thrashed violently with the intent to hurt and possibly _kill_ rather than to escape.

"God damnit Uchiha **let me _go_**!" she screamed.

His hold tightened even more but she kept twisting in order to get free. Focusing her chakra into her arms, she let it build before letting it expand at the exact moment she tried to spread her arms out. A second and a half of struggle freed her and she spun around, shoving her hands onto Itachi's chest and pushing hard. He was sent flying backwards and he crashed into none other than Kisame. Unfortunately for her, Kisame was planted in his spot and a hurtling Itachi didn't phase him in the slightest. Itachi was on his feet again in two seconds flat.

He blurred into nothing and Sakura was suddenly being restrained again, though this time she was in such a tight hold she was panting for air. She could feel Itachi's labored breathing against her back and his ragged warm breath against her ear. **(2)**He was pissed. She knew it. Everyone else knew it. The problem? When the people you work with suddenly start _backing away_, you know someone's temper isn't normal. Sakura was just about to get a _taste_, a mere _hint_ of the infamous "Ice Cube" Itachi Uchiha's anger.

"My patience for you has run its end, _girl_," his low deadly tone flowed into her ear. "I want an answer."

He suddenly let her go but she found herself being flung to the ground, face first. She brought her hands out to lay on both sides of her head to boost herself up but a fist was grabbing a handful of material from her shirt and lifting her off the ground before slamming her down on her back. Her chest was heaving from the force but she had bigger things to worry about than managable breathing. It came with a deadly aura and two crimson eyes and went by the name Itachi Uchiha.

He was crouched down beside her, hand sliding around her body and fisting her pink hair, thrusting her upper body up by the grip on her hair. She winced at the slight pain but refused to cry out. She knew she was stronger than that. But to see an Uchiha angry with _real_ anger scared her. Of course she wouldn't show it. But to see a completely emotionless _face_ with burning scarlet eyes and inhaling what seems like a tangible smothering bloodthirsty intent...Sasuke had absolutely _nothing _on his brother. She could see the muscles in his neck tightening and she swore she could _hear_ his heartbeat. As he crouched, his body still managed to lean over most of her body, making her closer to him than she wanted.

"You don't need to say yes. I can _make_ you say yes," he threatened.

Sakura's jade eyes narrowed slightly and he jerked her head back so she could see Deidara.

"I can torture you into submission if I needed to. The things I could do to your _body_," she felt his thumb from his other hand pressing into the dip above her collarbone once again, "you could never _imagine_ possible. And that naive little mind of yours?" He yanked her back up to him. "I think you'd enjoy watching how I made our dear Hatake _suffer_. Maybe a 72 hour trip inside _my_ world would help loosen you up?" he watched with pleasure as fear bled into her eyes.

It was shortlived, however, for defiance quickly surfaced.

"I wonder..." she breathed.

"You wonder _what_?"

She cocked her head to the side as best she could in her current state. The color of her eyes darkened.

"I wonder...how much you can take before you _break_." She felt the breath leave her lungs at the glare he shot her, but she didn't stop. "The temptation is there. You _know_ you want me to not give in."

There it was. There was the challenge inside of her that had been waiting to come out. She was laying out the bait for him and she was hoping he'd bite. This Itachi Uchiha was the total opposite of the rumors from not only Sasuke, but Kakashi and the rest of the people who knew of him. She wanted to know more about him. Call it her sixth sense if you will. Something told her that there was more to this, _this_, not just _him_, but _all of this_, than what was shown to the rest of the world. She would figure it out even if it meant her death. She knew something was up with the Akatsuki and she vowed to be the one to break the barrier.

"Watch your _mouth, girl_!" he hissed, fingers tightening in her hair and causing her mouth to open slightly in pain.

"Besides, you can't use the Mangekyou Sharingan on me, Uchiha," she said with a small smile. "It won't _work_."

His hand dragged down to the base of her neck. His thumb and middle finger pressed down on two specific points that caused her head to loll back, mouth opening more as her eyes slid shut at the pressure. She sucked in a breath between her teeth.

"And why is that?" His voice was strained.

She forced her mouth to close, the corners of her lips curving up. One hand trailed up her side until she found his arm. Her fingers moved lightly over his exposed flesh, following it to the back of her neck. She laid her hand out over his, opening her eyes. Slowly she brought her head forward to make eye contact with him. Supressing a gasp, she calmly brushed her fingers over the two of his digging in to her neck. She was slightly surprised when his grip eased. Her face remained completely serious as she continued eye contact with him.

"The Mangekyou Sharingan doesn't work on certain types of people," she began quietly.

"And those types of people would be?"

'_He gets pissed but it doesn't even _last_ long! He's sobering up already!_'

"The types with more than one personality residing in their minds."

His eyes narrowed at her comment, knowing exactly what she meant by it. Zetsu was one of the people his Mangekyou Sharingan wouldn't work on because of his obvious multiple personality disputes that occured daily. But Sakura wasn't showing any signs of a separate personality. He would've figured it'd make itself shown in times like these but it hadn't. Sakura could see his disbelief at her implications.

"Would you prefer to use it and see for yourself?" she offered.

She wasn't given an answer. Instead she found herself flat on her back, the support behind her neck gone. Itachi smoothly rose to his feet, dusted himself off, and turned around. The killing intent was completely gone and Sakura exhaled a shaky breath. She sat up, bringing her knees into an upright position and leaning forward with her elbow on one, hand hanging down. The other hand moved to rub the soon-to-be bruised flesh of her neck.

"What deals did you have in mind?" she called out to the retreating figure.

Itachi stopped and slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder at her. The two stared at one another for a minute or so before Itachi finally nodded. She jumped to her feet and he started turning to face her completely. Deidara was suddenly next to her, looking at her warily. She folded her arms over her chest and smirked, eyeing Itachi's face.

"Keep in mind that you may need to resort to torture if I don't like any of the deals you've thought of, alright?"

Her eerily polite tone gave Itachi a slight shock but he dismissed it.

"_Don't_ get started on that again."

His voice was monotone but the underlying message was perfectly clear to the kunoichi. She nodded her head for him to continue.

"First option. Fight Kisame tomorrow. If you win, you get to return to Konoha in the same condition you arrived here in. If you lose, you fix Kisame. Do you understand the terms of the deal?"

She nodded and he continued.

"Second option. You fix Kisame. We stop hunting Naruto. Do you understand the terms of that deal?"

Sakura's eyes widened slightly.

'They'll stop? Man! They must be desperate!'

She nodded for him to continue.

"Third option. You take care of Kisame's problem and my Sharingan. In return, we'll help you get Sasuke back. Do you understand the terms of the deal?"

Sakura took a moment to think it over. She needed it clarified.

"You'll _help_ get Sasuke back or you _will_ get Sasuke back?"

"We'll _help_. Information, scouting, and some fighting if you fail to hold out on your own," he clarified.

Once again she nodded.

"Final option. You help us out permanently," he paused, watching her eyes narrow at the thought, "and we bring Hatake back to life. Do you understand the terms of the deal?"

Sakura's eyes widened and she stared at the eldest Uchiha.

'_Bring him back! Screw Naruto and Sasuke! Get Kakashi back!_'

"You mean...you can actually...?"

"Yes."

Slowly she nodded her head. Now things just got incredibly complicated. Her eyes fell shut and she brought her hands up to cover her face.

"_Shit_," she whined, voice muffled by her hands.

Her fingers spread out and she dropped her hands down to hold her neck before they shot back up to tangle in her bangs.

"You couldn't make this any less complicated, could you?" She shot him a pleading look.

His silence caused her to close her eyes again and swear again.

"How long do I have to make a decision?"

"You're pushing it, Sakura," Itachi warned.

"I need at _least_ an hour, Uchiha, _please_," she begged.

"You have ten minutes."

"What? Uch-"

"Nine minutes and 56 seconds...54...5_2_..._50_..."

Sakura dropped to the ground, chewing on her lower lip. She bent her legs and brought her arms around them, hugging them to her chest. She leaned her head forward and proceeded to let her thoughts flow. Her fingers joined together at the tips in the same way as Shikamaru whenever _he_ needed to think. The two had become very close after Sasuke and Naruto left. Before she realized her feelings for Kakashi, she and Shikamaru were the hottest couple in Konoha. However, things became awkward when they started developing a sibling-like relationship that overruled their boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. She had picked up his thought influencing hand sign and it had worked fairly well for her since she'd started using it.

Now she had to think. Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and herself. First thing's first. Naruto. He was off with Jiraiya training to become strong enough to not only take out Akatsuki, but bring Sasuke back to Konoha and gain the title of Hokage. With the knowledge she had at that moment, she knew he didn't stand a chance against Akatsuki. Jiraiya wasn't strong enough to keep him safe. Naruto was at the top of the list.

"Six minutes and 59 seconds..."

Sasuke. She would never say she loved him anymore. Once Shikamaru and Kakashi had become parts of her life, she had learned the difference between _crush_ and _true love_. The only reason she wanted him back was because she still needed to kick his ass for putting her and Naruto through hell. The other reason was because she missed having him around with Naruto. They were like brothers to her and it felt empty a lot of the time because they weren't a group anymore.

However, Sasuke chose his path. He didn't have to run. They had provided him with all the support he needed. And what if she healed Kisame and Itachi? Sasuke most likely won't want to go back. If he _does_ arrive in Konoha, he'll not only face trial, but who's to say he'd be the same Sasuke? Who could make sure he'd _stay_ in Konoha and not run off? And apart from _that_, he'd most likely try to kill _her_ for helping the man he was destined to kill! Sasuke had just earned himself a boot from the list.

"Four minutes and 41 seconds..."

Kakashi? And herself? First came Kakashi. Kakashi was her first true love. He was her husband. He had always had a fear of settling down because he didn't want to lose the ones closest to him and he didn't want to leave the ones he loved behind. _She_ was the one to pull him from that train of thought, from that lifestyle he'd been cruelly forced to live. They'd gotten married after dating for a while, before she was 18.

She smiled gently remembering the half a year of secret dating. She was just starting to get into the more adult version of dating which was impossible since she wasn't 18 yet. The six months that went by only increased her beauty and the night of her 18th birthday belonged to Kakashi. They had announced their relationship that evening as well. Surprisingly, no one looked at them in disgusted glares. Everyone was fine with it. Even Naruto, which was the biggest shock of all. A lot of people had guessed something was going on between the two and therefore didn't have as big a reaction. Anko and Genma had handed over nearly four hundred dollars to Gai who claimed he could _sense_ the "youthful springtime love blossoming in hidden _passion_".

Sakura shivered. That had been one of the most disturbing memories she held of her life.

"Two minutes and 12 seconds..."

But Kakashi...the deal was that she'd work for them permanently. That meant that bringing Kakashi back to life would be a huge waste since she'd never be able to be with him again. She wasn't one to break a deal and that knocked out the idea that she could run away after a while of serving the Akatsuki. But still, Kakashi deserved to live again but would he feel it was worth it without her?

**"It's gotten so bad that I can't find any other reason to get up in the morning! The only thing that makes me _want_ to be _on time_ is knowing she'll be there!" Kakashi explained, frustrated, to Genma who was paying attention to Kakashi and the pink haired girl standing silently behind him with her chakra concealed. "Just to see her smiling face, it makes me feel a little bit better about my life, ya'know?"**

**"Maybe you just tell her already. Get it over with?" Genma suggested, downing a cup of sake.**

**Kakashi scoffed, tugging his mask down to drink his own shot of the potent alcohol.**

**"You're kidding me, right? What am I supposed to say? Oh, Sakura, I can't stop thinking about you and I know I'm 12 years older than you but I think I'm in love with you!" he said sarcastically, filling his sake glass and downing it again.**

**A very feminine giggling suddenly began behind him and he froze. He felt light breathing next to his ear and he felt like he was ready to go offer himself as target practice to the ANBU.**

**"Actually, you're _14_ years older, Kakashi. But that's perfectly fine with me," she said in his ear, amused.**

**Walking around his chair she seated herself on his thigh, hand coming up to hold his wrist, preventing him from pulling the mask up.**

**"And...I think I'm in love with you, too," she mumbled, cheeks tinging pink with embarrassment.**

**She leaned in and let her lips hover over his, refusing to make the final connection. After a few seconds his lips were claiming hers in a passionate kiss that allowed Genma the opportune moment to slip away unnoticed so he could go talk to the loud blonde girl sitting at the bar.**

"One minute and 35 seconds..."

Most likely it wasn't. That left her. She could save herself the agony of choosing the wrong deal to agree to and take the selfish way out by saving her own ass in a deal she knew she wasn't strong enough to win. Who was she kidding? She had more losses to Kakashi than wins and he was no match for Itachi. If she was lucky maybe he'd kill her by accident?

"27 seconds..."

The better part of her said that she shouldn't try to fight. It was easier to pick someone who would benefit most. Naruto's name kept popping up, but the sheer need to see Kakashi one more time continued to override the want for Naruto's safety. It was too hard to decide. She wanted Naruto to be safe but she _needed_ to see Kakashi. He was the only thing left she could rely on. Naruto would still be gone training but Kakashi...even if she never got to be with him again, she'd _know_ he was thinking about her just as much as she would be thinking about him.

"Time's up, Sakura."

Itachi walked towards her and crouched down in front of her. He noted how childish she looked at that moment. With her arms curled around her legs, holding them to her chest, and those large emerald eyes that pleaded silently for more time while she knew it would never happen, he had to admit it was amusing.

"Can I propose something?" she asked quietly.

He raised an eyebrow before looking at her in a way that made shivers run down her spine and invisible bugs crawl along her arms and legs.

"You want to fight Kisame and if you win, you'll get Naruto off the hook. If you lose, you'll offer to heal both Kisame and myself and stay with the Akatsuki for a short period of time in exchange for Hatake's revival. Is that it?"

Sakura stared unblinking at Itachi for half a minute before she finally shook her head slowly.

"How...did...? Yeah, that's right. So what do you say? Is that acceptable?"

"Hn."

Sakura's shoulders dropped slightly.

"Hn? That's all you can say? _Hn_."

"How long would you plan on staying a part of the Akatsuki?" he asked, curious.

She shrugged.

"Six months?"

Both of his eyebrows rose and he blinked. His lips curled into a smirk and he exhaled a shaky breath, controlling his laughter.

"Try again."

"Again? How long are we tryin' for?" she asked hesitantly.

"Two years at least."

"Two _years_! That is _so_ not _short_!" she objected.

"Torture is appealing to you, isn't it?" he teased.

"It isn't! But...gah! One year."

"Two years."

"One year and one month?"

"Two years."

She sighed.

"One year and _three_ months."

"Two years."

"One year and four months?"

"Two years."

"One and five?"

"Two, Sakura. I'm not budging."

She swore under her breath and nodded her head in agreement.

"When will you bring Kakashi back?"

"When you've finished serving your time with us."

Sakura nodded and held out her hand. Itachi took it and they shook.

"Deal."

"Deal."

Pulling apart, the two rose to their feet. Itachi walked over to a figure in the back and Sakura walked back over to Deidara, dusting herself off again.

"Ya'know, I think I like him better when he's angry," she said honestly.

Deidara's head snapped to look at her, eye wide and mouth open.

"Are you insane!...yeah!" he nearly hissed.

Sakura shrugged and continued to follow him with her eyes. She bit her lip in temporary thought but released it just as quickly.

"I take it I'm the first one not to cower in fear of him when he's pissed?" she asked, amused.

The blonde shook his head rapidly.

"And you managed to calm him down!...yeah!"

Sakura raised a brow.

"I can tell by the way he looked at me that he wants to figure me out. I think the fact that I've presented myself as a challenge-"

"You _offered_ yourself to him as a _torture victim_!...yeah!"

"-he's considered taking me as one. But I want to figure _him_ out, too. Nothing matches up. It's all different from the stories. It's like someone's taken Itachi and switched his personality with Sasuke!" she explained in hushed tones, nibbling her lower lip again.

"How can you just stand there and act like that?...yeah," Deidara asked in disbelief.

Sakura shrugged again and focused her attention on Itachi.

"Whatever happens, something is going to go wrong," she muttered, eyeing the older man.

"What do you mean?...yeah."

"I can feel it. Something is going to happen and it'll mess something up. I'm telling you, I really don't think Kisame is going to be able to control Isonade. It doesn't make sense why the demon doesn't just take over his body already and rampage or something. It's just..._quiet_," she noted.

"And that's a _bad_ thing?...yeah."

"It is. The demon is a bloodthirsty demon that causes destruction for entertainment. It lives off of blood and gore. It's strong enough that it can cause so much damage yet it's refusing to take over Kisame's body so he can go back to where he was. I don't understand."

"Sakura. Sasori is going to take you back to the inn so you can go to sleep. It's nearly 10 right now. We'll be waking you up at 6 to fight. Understood?" Itachi explained.

Sakura nodded and ran off toward Sasori, a man that looked like an older, _friendlier_ version of the old Gaara. Maybe they were related?

"'Night, Sakura!...yeah," Deidara called out.

Sakura waved behind her, hurrying to catch up to the redhead. Itachi walked over to Deidara, watching the kunoichi heading off.

"She's already breaking through the first layer of false clues, Itachi...yeah," Deidara said with a sudden seriousness.

"She won't be able to figure it all out before we get what we want," Itachi assured.

"She's _brilliant_...yeah. Don't you think we should actually g-"

"We'll be fine. Just stick to the plan and nothing will go wrong."

"I still think you're underestimating her...yeah. Don't you think this is just a _bit_ much for something as simple as-"

"No. Remember that this deal that we've made with her covers every medical problem we could have for the next two years _after_ she fixes Kisame and heals my eyes," Itachi reminded him.

"Your eyes won't take very long, but Kisame...yeah..."

"Let's just leave it as it is," Itachi said with a sly smirk. "She's going to be with us for a _lot_ longer than two years."

* * *

Chapter 2, at your viewing pleasure! Yeah, these short chapters are _killing_ me. I think I'll alternate between short chapters and long ones. For the ones that _need_ a cliffhanger, then I'll do whatever, but for the ones that don't, I'll cram whatever I can in there.

**(1) **These are **_SAKURA'S_** thoughts on the matter. They aren't completely true but they aren't completely false. They're **_HER_** opinion.

**(2) **Right. Well I've got quite a few views on Itachi. The one I've used for this story in particular is where Itachi is talkative half the time and annoyed easily by chatter the other half. He enjoys nothing more than messing with people's heads and making them suffer in strange and unusual ways that tend to be twice as effective as normal methods. He knows he has an effect on women and he uses it to his full advantage (Sakura is one of the only people who don't take notice. As you've read, she gets bugged by it.) to get what he wants. He's an amazing actor and a believable liar. He has a pissy side. Sue me. I think it kicks ass.

Right, so we've got the deal down. We've got a cute little flashback. We've got some pissed Itachi. That was _so_ much fun to write. Yup!

**Thanks to my reviewers and their wonderful reviews!  
Ashinahime, LynGreenTea, jenfrog, krystleg777, KakumeiKid, Cytrus, Rhonda21, kittykathy, kakashisninjadogs, priya, Kenya, Wyvren Wing, GinaCat, Miakoda13, Chryseis Wyvernsen, xXSakakiXx, Nikki, SabakuNoBrandye, Marsgoddess1, Sess-Kag, Sesshomarubaby18, aznmelon, honey I just wanna hear you, Princess, Hija Del Sucio, theoneandonlydarkpowderpuff, SpeedDemon315**

Don't forget to review! Till later!

Backlash Symphony


	3. Arc 1: Twisting the Conditions

Story Title: Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter Title: 3. Twisting the Conditions

Chapter 3 of 11

Arc 1 of 4

Pairing: ItachiSakuraKisame

Rating: M (Swearing, Later chapters)

Author: Backlash Symphony

Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More epecifically, Kisame.ItaSakuKis

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Got it? I. _Don't_. Only my imagination frees me from rampaging the office with the ownership papers. Barely.

Extra: I figured Sakura would learn a few things from Kakashi. Sakura's a genius, anyway. She'd be able to create quite a few of her own jutsus. And all the other sannin are teaching their students forbidden techniques or really cool jutsus. Why shouldn't Sakura know a few? I don't know if Tsunade's regeneration technique is forbidden or not, but it's listed as S-Class and besides, Itachi won't know, so it's all good.

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke: 20

Itachi, Kabuto: 26

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade: 58

**The name of the village used is Hitmitsuzuka. It means 'House of Secrets'. I did not create this name on my own. All ownership belongs to Theif of the Sand who gave me permission to use it.**

Text means normal writing.

'Text' means thoughts.

_'Text' _mean Inner Sakura's thoughts.

**Text** means flashback.

* * *

True to Itachi's word, Sakura was roughly woken from a rather awkward half rest at 6 in the morning. She grumbled and muttered curses under her breath, flopping onto her side violently and twisting around in her warm cotton comforter cacoon. 

"Get your skinny butt up, Sakura...yeah," the blonde sighed, fingers wrapping harder around the small bit of clay in his hand.

Sakura, still controlled by the sleep induced haze that came from waking when you didn't want to, let out a long annoyed groan and curled up some more. Deidara sighed again and chuckled lightly. He had no idea Sakura was going to be so entertaining in the morning. With a grin he walked the few steps to her bed and took a seat on the edge, his lower back against the front of her thighs. Reaching down, he placed his hand in front of her face. A very _very_ tiny clay bird was laying there innocently.

"Last chance to get up before I force you up...yeah," he warned, grinning.

Honestly, who would've thought that she'd be this much of a pain in the ass when the Akatsuki were involved? He'd give her two minutes before reminding her just what was going to happen that morning. Once again she mumbled something incoherant -knowing her, however, he knew she was most likely insulting him again- and tried to flop over but couldn't due to the blankets he was sitting on. With a sigh he held his hand a few inches above Sakura's head. The bird came to life and flapped its wings, hovering above the slumbering woman.

"Don't say I didn't warn you...yeah," Deidara teased, straightening himself and readying to restrain the soon to be pissed pink haired kunoichi. "Katsu...yeah."

The tiny bird suddenly began shaking before it exploded in a burst of red and black flames. Sakura's eyes shot open as the noise completely penetrated her sleepy mind, forcing her into awareness. Her hand dove under her pillow in search of a kunai as she shot up only to be pinned back down again. There was an incredibly short -four seconds at the most- struggle before she finally realized she was staring straight into a single blue eye and the sunlight was filtering through a curtain of blonde hair.

"Dei...dara?" Sakura asked hesitantly, shock blatant in her tone.

He grinned a wide grin at her, so wide that he actually closed his eye. Sakura looked at him with a raised brow.

"Good morning!...yeah!" he greeted in a friendly tone, grip on her wrists loosening.

Sakura shook her head, blinking away the alarms still going on in her head. Had she missed something?

"Good...morning..."

His smile fell and with a huff, he removed his hands from her wrists. Pulling away from her, yet still sitting next to her thighs, he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head up, a childish pout forming on his handsome features. Sakura snickered at the look before the sky outside caught her attention. With a loud gasp, she shot up, effectively knocking the blonde off of the bed. With a shout, Deidara found himself sprawled in an awkward position on the floor.

Sakura kicked the blankets off of her body and hopped off the bed, ignoring Deidara -she merely stepped over him- and heading for her bag against the wall. Quickly rummaging through it, she pulled out a fresh outfit, crushing it to her chest. She extracted various scrolls, lining them up against her side on the floor. She vaguely heard a thump behind her at Deidara got up.

"Glad to know you didn't forget...yeah," he said distantly, taking a seat on the edge of the bed once again.

"Forget?" she snapped. "How the _hell_ could I for**_get_**?" She shot to her feet and spun to face him, clothes clutched tightly to her chest. "I'm about to get my _ass_ **mutilated **by one of _you_!" she hissed, pointing a finger at the blonde before proceeding to lean forward and press her finger to his chest in a sharp jab. "There is _no_ way I can defeat one of _you_!" she accentuated each word with a slightly painful poke -in the same spot, nonetheless- to Deidara's chest.

'I'm going to have a bruise there by tonight,' the blonde thought, wincing slightly. 'yeah.'

"Now get out so I can get changed!" she ordered, removing her finger and pointing to the door.

Deidara didn't move. Instead, he put his hands behind his head and fell back so he was laying on the bed. Squirming a bit into a more comfrotable position, he gave her a lazy look.

"I can't do that...yeah. In case you try to escape again or try to kill yourself...yeah," he explained with a half shrug.

She growled low in her throat, glaring at him. She knew how right he was and didn't know why she'd even hoped -despite the fact that it was just a hint of hope, it was still a heavy wish- she could get past people who'd been kidnapping and holding people hostage for decades. They knew the drill. She had already shown them she was more than willing to escape and she'd chosen the deal that she stood no chance of coming out the victor of.

"Then at least turn a_round_," she said exasperatedly.

He shook his head.

"Can't do that either...yeah," he said with a grin. "You might attack me...yeah."

Sakura raised a brow at him and shook her head. With a heavy sigh she turned around.

"What an _idiot_," she muttered.

Taking steps away from the bed, she moved towards the opposing wall. With her back still to Deidara, she sucked in a breath and quickly began unbuttoning her shirt.

"If I even _think_ you're peeking I'll castrate you, got it?" she threatened, sliding the tank top she'd chosen over her head.

"You've got nothing I haven't seen before...yeah," he chuckled, shifting on the bed.

Sakura bit her lip to keep from lashing out at the lazy blonde. She needed all the energy she had to even get a _scratch_ on Kisame. Who was she kidding? There was no way in hell she was going to win or even come close to knocking him out. She knew very little about the ways he fought.

'_Very little? Try **none at all**_!' Inner Sakura screeched.

She jumped from her pants, pulling on the pair of shorts she'd picked out.

"Just because you've seen _other_ women before doesn't mean you have the 'OK' to see _me_," she pointed out, fitting herself into a black sweatshirt.

She heard him make a noise indicating he heard her, almost like a grunt. She turned around and eyed him somewhat nervously before scanning the room for her sandals. Spotting them at the foot of the bed, she walked over and slipped them on.

"So where are my weapons?"

She heard Deidara sit up and saw his feet hit the ground next to her. She turned her head to face him and he dangled two pouches in front of her, smirking. She scowled at him and snatched the pouches, checking them to make sure her kunai and shuriken were there before tying one around her left thigh and clipping the other onto a belt loop on the back of her shorts. Getting to her feet, she stretched shortly and picked up her scrolls, stuffing them into the pockets of her shorts. She moved to the door. Deidara appeared in front of her, opening the door and heading down the hall.

She followed behind him as he moved down the stairs and she stifled a yawn. Once she hit the bottom of the stairs, she noted the blonde heading for the exit and she paused.

"I can't have breakfast?" she groaned.

Deidara shook his head and looked at her over his shoulder.

"Sorry...yeah. Itachi's orders," he said sincerely.

"Damn Uchiha bastard!" she hissed under her breath before jogging to follow Deidara out of the house.

Before they left, Sakura retrieved a senbon from one of her pouches and twisted it in her hair, fixing it into a messy bun. The moment she exited the house, the happier she was she'd gotten a sweatshirt on. Her legs were very cold and the sun had yet to get over the other buildings despite the small amount that came in through her window.

'_And Deidara's hair..._'

There was a line of men dressed in the tell-tale Akatsuki cloaks of black base and red clouds. Kisame was leaning against the side of a building looking rather bored. Sakura gulped down the sudden rising fear from her stomach and put on her best pissed expression once she spotted Itachi standing ahead of her, walking towards Deidara. The two said something short to each other before Sakura stomped her way in between the two, glaring at the Sharingan user.

"You already know I'm going to have an incredibly tough time beating him and yet you deny me breakfast anyway?" she hissed.

He sighed and nodded to Deidara. The blonde grinned and walked past him towards Kisame.

"There are rules in this fight you need to follow," Itachi began.

Sakura glared harder at him which only made him smirk.

"Really? And what rules might those be?"

"First off, you can't kill him."

Sakura scoffed.

"Thank you Captain _Obvious_," she mumbled earning a glare from Itachi. "What else could there possibly be? You said a fight. I'm here to fight. You're going to ruin it with the rules you're applying."

"Second," he said, ignoring her statement, "you aren't allowed to use any of your medical ninjutsu or genjutsu."

"_What_!" she screeched. "That's taking away **_half_** of my fight! You can't do that!"

"Third, you only get to use six normal ninjutsu and any taijutsu you want."

Sakura was fuming now.

"You can't do that! How the hell am I supposed to win if I can't use anything to fight! I'm not one of _you_! I don't have the power you have so you can't expect me to fight that way!" she protested. "Besides! I never agreed to this last night!"

"Yes you did. You agreed to a _fight_. When I asked you if you understood the terms of the deal, you said yes. Included in those terms are the rules I've just told you," Itachi corrected, smirk still present on his face.

"But you never _said anything about **rules**_!"

He shrugged.

"You never asked. I had expected you would've known well enough to get _all_ the details than to just accept the vague description I presented to you like you so foolishly did."

Sakura shook her head and turned away from him, stomping toward the house.

"Forget this! I'm going home!" she declared angrily.

Itachi suddenly appeared in front of her and she stopped dead in her tracks. She tried moving to the left but he moved to block her. She tried shifting to go around to the right but he blocked her again. His smirk fell.

"God _damnit _**move**!"

"You have a fight scheduled. We agreed that if you won you'd-"

"I agreed to a _fight_! By restricting me of all of the areas you _know_ I'd win in you know I'll lose so I'll be forced to work for you! That's _not_ a fight! _This_ is _not_ what I agreed to!"

Itachi took a step forward and out of instinct, Sakura took two leaps back, positioning her body in a defensive stance. She watched as Itachi's smirk returned, fingers reaching up to pop open the buttons of his cloak. Sakura watched him with mild curiosity, focusing on his hands that she knew could perform a series of long and complicated seals in the blink of an eye. The cloak slid down his shoulders and bunched around his feet. Clad in the other outfit she'd seen the Akatsuki men wear -black pants and a half fishnet no sleeved shirt- he advanced on her, causing her to take an awkward step back.

"You can fight Kisame or you can fight _me_," Itachi said, hands reached down to a small plack pouch strapped to his thigh.

Sakura, knowing her chances of _scratching_ Itachi were impossible, immediately ran her hand down to the pouch behind her. There was a blast of air behind her and she -an incredibly _stupid_ move- turned to see what made it. A copy of Itachi stood there and she made the mistake of looking over her shoulder. The sharp blade of a kunai was pressed to her throat as Itachi's chest pressed against her back. His other hand held one of her wrists. Her body went rigid and her eyes widened.

"And since you've chose to fight _me_, I think it's clear to say I've won," he said in a disgusted voice. "Pathetic. You didn't even last three seconds."

Sakura's hand came up and Itachi instinctively pressed the kunai harder into the soft flesh of her neck. A thin line of blood apeared but no more damage than that was created. However, that little action suddenly made Sakura poof into a cloud of smoke. Itachi looked at the space between his arms and body, searching for a log or some other object for substitution. He found nothing. His shinobi instincts flared and he spun around only to find a fist aimed for his face. He ducked, the fist whizzing over his head.

He took a step back, straightening. His hand reached down to pull out a new kunai when a smaller colder hand wrapped around his wrist, yanking it to his side. He felt fingers clamping down on the bicep of his other arm. A _very_ feminine body molded against his back and he could feel warm breath on the side of his face.

"We wouldn't want you to have any weapons, now, would we?" she said smugly in his ear.

They both knew that he could break free from the hold easily but he remained in her grip. After a few moments Sakura finally released his arms and took a step back. He turned to find her arms across her chest, looking up at him expectantly.

"I'm going to beat him, Uchiha," she said in a low voice. "I'm going to beat him and be the first to prove you _wrong_."

Itachi exhaled harshly in replace of an actual verbal response. With a shake of his head he walked away from her, bending down once he got to his cloak and snatching it. With a toss of the material over his shoulders and a jerk of his head from Kisame to Sakura, he resumed his position against the side of the building. Kisame, his enormous sword held over his shoulder, walked towards the center of the road where Sakura was, stopping about six feet ahead of her.

The blue skinned man got into position, moving his legs should width apart and tightening his hold on the handle of his Samehada. His free hand was open and dangling at his side, ready to grab a smaller weapon in case he needed to block some of her smaller weapons. Sakura took a defensive stance with her legs spread shoulder witch apart as well, one foot in front of the other. She bent her knees slightly, hand hovering over the pouch at her thigh, and leaned forward just a bit.

"You might want to take off the sweatshirt," Kisame suggested.

Sakura paused for a moment, thinking it over. It was cold, yes, but the fight would warm her up no doubt. However, taking the sweatshirt off would also leave her open to more damage. It wouldn't be much, but it was still more than she would be subjected to with it on. Finally deciding that she would -Kisame's cloak had been gone since the moment she first laid eyes on him- she swiftly pulled the senbon from her hair, the pink tresses falling down in a mess, and yanked the article of clothing off, tossing it off to the side. She adjusted the tank top and redid her bun with the senbon before taking her stance again.

"Remember, Sakura. Six normal ninjutsu, no medical ninjutsu or genjutsu, but you can use all the taijutsu you need," Itachi reminded her. "If you go past the limit or use any of the restricted areas, you automatically lose. Understood?"

Sakura closed her eyes, trying a close to failing battle of keeping her anger in by breathing and counting to ten. She nodded her head and channeled her anger into usable energy. She had to win. She'd do her best to stick to the guidelines but once she got into the fight, she wasn't sure how much she'd be able to remember not to do until it was too late.

'_Six normal ninjutsu and taijutsu. Just great. We are _so_ fucked right now._'

'Pessimist,' Sakura spat at her inner self.

"Begin."

At Itachi's command, Sakura's eyes flashed open but Kisame had already disappeared. Carefully using a minimal amount of chakra, she spread it around her in search of the missing-nin. She felt something trigger her senses to the left and spun, kunai ready to defend or attack in her hand. The monstrous sword he had was swinging right at her. Pushing chakra into her feet, she jumped high into the air, mind beginning to work out a plan. She had six normal ninjutsus to use and she wasn't about to blow them off. She would watch his atacks carefully and determine the correct route to go on from there.

Falling onto the ground a dozen feet away, she watched his body closely, trying to detect any certain points that she could attack to slow him down.

The problem about not being able to use her medical ninjutsu wasn't that she couldn't defeat Kisame as quickly, but rather she couldn't attack close range anymore. Her taijutsu was pitiful -even though it had improved over the many years since Sasuke left Konoha- and Itachi knew that which was why he had given her complete usage of it during this specific fight. The only way her taijutsu worked properly was if she could use her medical ninjutsu alongside it. But Itachi knew that by allowing ehr to fight using that area of techniques, she could easily claim the title of victor for this fight, effectively ruining all of his plans.

Kisame's speed was incredible. Sakura saw how fluidly he moved, like water. He was running towards her and he'd just blur out of her vision. Using her chakra to detect him once again, she found he couldn't find him. Concentrating harder only found her taking a fist to the face. She was sent flying backwards a dozen or so feet, hissing silently at the stinging and throbbing her cheek was experiencing. She could faintly taste blood in her mouth and knew it came from her teeth having bitten down on the inside of her cheek when she was hit.

Shaking herself off, she hopped into a crouching position. She barely had time to dodge before the Samehada sliced over her head. The bandages shredded a few of her hairs, but nothing noticeable. However, she felt like something was being tugged out of her body, but the feeling was gone as soon as it came. His foot was aimed toward her head just as quickly as she dodged the sword. Holding her arms in front of her, making an X, her arms absorbed the strength of the hit and knocked her back a few feet.

This time she landed the right way on both of her feet. The kunai in her hand -she had no idea how she had managed to keep a hold on it- began to ring off as a distraction for a bigger plan in her head. She'd be using one of her six attacks, but if she could distract him long enough with a barrage of weapons, he'd most likely defend himself with the sword leaving her free to attack from behind. Or...

'_Underneath!_'

'But then I'd be using _two_ of my attacks. That's a pretty big risk,' Sakura thought. 'It's not worth it. I'll save it for later when I _know_ I've got him-'

'_Doesn't strength count as taijutsu?_'

Sakura's thoughts froze.

'Wait a sec...that's right! It does!'

Inner Sakura grinned and pranced around, pumping her fist in the air.

'_Hell yeah! We're back to close range fighting again!_'

'Not while he's got that sword. But we'll deal with it later.'

Forcing chakra into her feet again, she raced towards Kisame, eyeing his Samehada while gripping her kunai tightly. When he pulled back and shifted the bandaged weapon to atack her, she rocketed off of the ground and high into the air. Forcefully flinging the kunai down she quickly formed the hand seals.

"Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The single kunai was instantly surrounded by replicating clones. A wave of at least one hundred kunai came crashing down towards Kisame. True to Sakura's thoughts, he used his sword to help fend off the weapons. Taking her chance, she fell from the sky and used her speed to get behind Kisame.

She let her chakra build up in her arm, fist drawn back. The energy churned under hear skin, waiting to be released. Once Sakura's feet were firmly planted on the ground, she let her fist aim forward. Kisame turned around at the last second, having only been nicked once, to see her fist coming at him. He couldn't move in time and he took the hit.

When Sakura had taken Kisame's fist, she'd gone back quite a decent distance. When Kisame took _Sakura's_ hit, he was launched back and _through_ four or five _houses_. Sakura grinned at the successful hit but winced and dropped it due to the painful throbbing on her cheek. She nearly brought her hand up to heal it when she remembered what Itachi had told her. Now she had a little bit of time to come up with a plan to get rid of his sword.

Even if she _wasn't_ good at close range fighting most of the time, she'd much rather fight him that way than fight him while he had his sword at his disposal. That thing scared her and every time it came to close to her, she could feel _something_ leaving her body. She could've _sworn_ she heard the thing **munching** on something. **_Munching_**! It was a _sword_ for God's sake! Not a damn house pet!

She briefly went over the things she could do in her head but nothing could be made into a plan soon enough for the blue skinned criminal was emerging from the debris, _twirling_ the sword like a baton with an insane grin on his face. Sakura took a step back, eyeing him once again in the hopes that she'd be able to find some small weak point to knock him off course until she figured out a way to get the sword away.

Reaching into her back pouch, she extracted two kunai and held one in each hand. Kisame continued to walk at a casual pace towards Sakura. It bugged her. She didn't get why he was moving so-

'_Duck!_'

Sakura let out a gasp and hit the deck, spinning once she hit the ground and feeling that same loss of something in her body as the munching sword passed over her. Her eyes made contact with Kisame's black beady ones and she noted the sword all the way to the right from the corner of her eye. Once again his leg came up, foot aimed for her head. She blocked the same way, arms making an X, only this time, she flew back three feet before she jammed the kunai into the ground. The momentum had her travel in a complete circle as she held on tightly to the kunai.

Drawing back her legs, she gave a harsh shove at his, knocking his left leg out from under him. The sword that was still slowing down made him lose his balance and he nearly fell backwards. He used the leg that was hit to stop him but Sakura had enough time to get up into the air, propelled by her chakra. She did a flip, aiming a kick to his head while he was still gaining his balance.

His arm shot out and grabbed her ankle, giving her a tug. Her body came tumbling from the air and would've crashed into him had he not brought the Samehada up. Knowing she'd be in tremendous danger, she firmly planted her free foot on his opposite shoulder, sending chakra to it so she could stick there. Sending chakra into her other foot that was being held captive by him, she yanked it back with all her might and he let go. She allowed herself to fall foward as the sword passed over her back, the same feeling surfacing again.

With her foot attached to his shoulder and his balance just barely complete, her weight falling behind him caused him to lose his balance once again despite his supporting leg. After she got her other leg around his head, she attached it to the center of his back with more chakra. Bending forward, she stretched out her arms and, making sure her chakra was completely perfectly aligned with Kisame's body, she let all of the weight fall on her hands. With a burst of chakra into her arms coordinated with the muscles working overtime in her legs, she managed to flip her body, straightening it, and slammed Kisame's body, face first, into the hard ground.

Removing the chakra from her feet, she scanned the area around her for his sword and spotted it a few feet away. Getting to her feet she made to run for it when she felt a hand encircle her ankle. She found herself being dragged backwards before she was thrown with great force to the right where the other Akatsuki members were lined up. The men scattered along the sides of the buildings, making room for Sakura to hit.

The pink haired girl smashed into the brick wall, sending bits and pieces of cement and stone in a circle around her. A cloud of dust disguised the small area. There wasn't any sound of movement, however, and Itachi wondered if she was knocked out. So when the dust finally cleared, Sakura had shattered a large hole in the wall and was half buried in the fallen pieces. With one arm twisted behind her and under more bricks, her body slouched forward, head back and off to the side, supported by the edge of the hole. One arm was bent beneath her and the other was straight out in front of her. Her eyes were closed.

Itachi decided he'd wait until the count of ten before he declared Kisame the winner.

"Sakura, you've got ten seconds to get up if you want to have any chance at winning," Itachi stated to the most likely unconcious woman.

He watched her, mind set on the knowledge that she was totally knocked out but a nagging voice telling him she was too strong to give in to something like this. By the time he reached four, he was walking towards her body. At two, he reached her. At one, as he was bent over her to move her, she opened her eyes. He froze above her and she looked dazed. He waited a few moments before receiving a glare from the woman.

"Don't touch me," came her weak voice.

He stood and backed away, corner of his lips quirking up at her specific comment. He watched her wince in pain as she slowly brought her arms out from behind her. Using both arms as support, she pushed herself up from the pile of broken stone and cracked cement. Slowly getting up, pressing her back against the part of the wall that was still intact, she squeezed her eyes shut as a flash of pain rushed up her leg.

She forced herself to get past the pain, using the excuse that she'd had worse injuries and had been in more agony than this. That excuse didn't stop the fact that it still hurt no matter how bad her other previous injuries may have been. Stepping away from the wall, she took a moment to assess the damage her body had taken. She let out a hiss when she saw her leg. Under her knee there was a long cut from one side to the other. It wasn't incredibly deep, but it was deep enough that blood was sliding down her pale leg slowly.

"_Shit_!" she whined. "That is _so_ going to get infected."

With a sigh, she quickly collected herself before heading back into the middle of the road but paused. She took another look down.

"Blood," she whispered.

She had an idea. She smirked and bent down, running her fingers on her right hand through the warm sticky substance. She straightened and made sure to pull out two new kunai. She rushed towards Kisame, the spike of pain increasing in her leg with each touch of her foot to the ground. He had his sword ready and he took a grand swing at her. She ducked and felt the same effects but he quickly turned around and came to hit at her from above.

Making the familiar X to block, this time with the two kunai she had, she caught the bandaged blade of the sword. The weight of it alone made her drop down nearly a foot but she pressed chakra into her arms, trying to force it back up. That's when it happened again. She felt like something was being pulled from her body and she realized the more chakra she pushed into moving the sword _up_, the _closer_ it came to her. With narrowed eyes she pushed harder. Kisame's sudden laughter made something click in her head alongside the munching noise she heard again. And she saw it.

A very faint trail of blue was being sucked from her into the sword. Eyes wide she let out a cry and she forgot to back away. With a quick swipe of the sword, the top Sakura's entire left bicep was _shredded_. She gave a strangled shriek of pain and dropped her weapons, hand swiftly adjusting to clutch her heavily bleeding arm. She made sure she backed away this time but she continued to eye the sword. The bandages had ripped off and there was a purple-blue set of what seemed to be spikes that came from the opening.

_'Furry?_'

_Furry_ spikes.

'It shreds! It doesn't slice!' Sakura thought in horror.

And it was _rippling_. It didn't take a genius to figure that out.

"It ate my chakra!" she exclaimed, the terror and humiliation written clearly across her face.

Kisame merely grinned that evil smirk at her. She held her arm tighter, forcing herself not to cry from the intense agony that was now taking over her entire left arm, shoulder, and part of the left side of her chest. She could feel the throbbing of her heart in her neck and ears. As she fought back tears, she quickly took this new information to her plan making. She needed to come up with something _fast_. Taking a closer look at the bandages, she saw her blood on them. She could use that to her advantage if she could get him to use a specific jutsu, but in order for that to happen she needed that damn sword of his.

'Alright then. Let's hope Kakashi's technique will allow adjustments,' she prayed hopefully.

'_Why don't we stop the blood flow otherwise we won't even have time to _plan_ Kakashi's jutsu!_'

With a mental nod, Sakura grit her teeth, using her injured arm to reach down to rip a strip of fabric from her tank top. Hurriedly wrapping it above the wound, she tied a knot using her good arm and her teeth, making it tight to slow down the circulation. If she hadn't lost more blood than she could already, she would soon. She needed to finish this without any more 'Go with the flow' plans. She needed a strict plan immediately otherwise she'd be passed out and more humiliated than any other time in her life.

'_And working for the enemy!_'

Yes. And working for the enemy.

Itachi, Kisame, and the rest of the on-lookers all noticed the black marking on the left side of Sakura's stomach. When she'd ripped the material off, half of what appeared to be a black flower was revealed. They mostly figured it was a tattoo, but Itachi didn't think this girl would've gotten something black.

Sakura had five jutsus left to use. Using that train of thought, she tried to come up with a plan while she watched Kisame warily. He was coming up with something while she was and she didn't think she wanted to know. His hands formed seals in a mere two seconds.

"Kiri Gakure no Jutsu!" Kisame voiced.

Sakura wracked her brain for the name and she realized which one it was.

'_Just the one we needed!_'

'No!' Sakura panicked. '**_Not_** the one we needed!'

"Shit!" she muttered, moving back to get distance.

She remembered how Kakashi had handled this all those years ago.

"Please, _please_ tell me I picked it up!" she pleaded, hands searching through her pockets for one of the scrolls Kakashi had given to her.

Through the pain, she finally found it and the fog began to close around her. She was panicking and Kisame knew it. Itachi knew it. Both of them wanted this reaction. It meant her movements wouldn't be as calculated as they had been. She'd be too busy worrying to do something correctly. He would wait until she planned to attack before swiping the rest of her chakra away. He disappeared in a flash in the thickening fog.

In the event Kisame found her, she wanted to make clones so that he wouldn't be sure. She formed the seals quickly.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" she whispered.

Seven clones of herself appeared and she had them spread out. With a bit of relief, she returned to her original task.

Sakura's fingers, still wet with blood, gripped the scroll and untied it, tossing it into the air. It came undone some on the way back down and she caught it with her dry hand. Spreading it out in the air, she swiped her bloddy thumb across the entire roll of paper. She began spinning it around her body before jerking it to the left, swirling it there, and then bringing it to the right, making an angle with it. After a series of alternating actions from bringing it in front of her to spinning it to the right, she finally spun it around her one more time before tossing it into the air and catching it as the tie came together on its own.

"Ninpou Kuchiyose! Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!" she said, slamming the scroll onto the ground.

The markings spread out in different directions from the scroll and disappeared into the ground. She prayed this would work. If she remembered correctly, once the dogs found Kisame and got a hold of him, the mist would begin to clear. She only hoped that was the case because her energy was draining, and it was draining _fast_. She paid careful attention to her surroundings -granted she couldn't do much since she couldn't see, but her hearing was working. In case the mist didn't clear, she needed to be able to hear-

"Ah! What the-"

Sakura's attention snapped to the right. Sure enough, the mist began to clear slowly. She could see a rather large outline becoming clearer with each passing second. At last, the majority of the mist disappeared and she smiled a wide smile. Kisame was standing with two small dogs half buried in the ground, biting his ankles. An incredibly large bull dog was sinking his teeth into his shoulder while various other dogs of many sizes dug their teeth and claws into him. Sakura let out a relieved laugh, insanely happy because it had worked.

As Sakura thought about her next move, Kisame suddenly turned into a puddle of water. Sakura's eyes widened and she swore, spinning around to look for the real Kisame. Her heart was beating fiercely in her chest. Her mouth went dry as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, a fearsome indication that someone was behind her. A wave of kunai and shuriken were headed towards her and she couldn't move in time. She was hit with two thirds of the weapons and Kisame looked at her, waiting for her to finally pass out so he could finish this.

As Sakura began to fall back, a loud noise was heard and Sakura was covered in smoke. When it cleared, Kisame only saw the weapons he'd used.

"A clone? When'd she have time to do that?" he muttered, using his chakra to find the pink haired woman.

Kisame suddenly had hands holding onto his ankles and he was being dragged down into the ground. His entire body was submerged and Sakura was crouching in front of him, looking down at him. She gave him a smile and a smug look and he glared at her. She wasn't sure what she was allowed to do. Would Itachi consider a normal pressure point knock out a good way to finish the fight? Or would he consider it a type of medical ninjutsu even if it involved no chakra?

She needed to hurry up and choose something soon. Kisame was bound to break out and she was still losing blood even with the circulation being cut off. She was positive now that she'd lost more blood than she should be able to lose and every step she took made her head spin. She had to do something.

The pain was so horrible that even _breathing_ was becoming difficult when her lungs were unharmed. Sweat covered her entire body from pushing it to its limits. Her clothes stuck to her like a second skin. Her pink hair -the few strands that were her bangs- stuck to her face. Dirt covered her body, sticking to minor cuts and concrete bits clogging the slice on her leg. Her head was pounding and she was faintly hoping she could just give up and try again later just to stop the pain.

The fog was completely cleared now but something told Sakura that the danger was still there. She vaguely wondered if she'd captured a fake again but he would've changed already, right?

Sakura stood up.

Wrong. Absolutely completely _wrong_.

She ducked back down again as he swung his damn sword behind her. The Kisame in the ground turned into water again and she dove across the hole, narrowly missing the back of her thigh being shredded. She jumped to her feet, taking a taijutsu stance. She had two things she could do. She could take what she'd learned from Lee after the chuunin exams and use it -if it didn't work she'd be screwed with no other option but to give up because of the exhaustion- or she could go with the senbon in her hair.

She really wanted to use the senbon because the poison in it would knock someone out in twenty seconds-it was one of her own creations. The problem was she had always used a medical ninjutsu to cut off the feeling of the area where she would strike. The poison was excruciatingly painful and as much as she should be caring about doing whatever it takes to haul ass out of there, she didn't want to hurt Kisame.

She could always try Lee's method first and chuck the needle at him for good measure in case he managed to stay awake, but even that was overthinking it. Or maybe she could paralyze him? That would work, right? But would Itachi think it was a medical ninjutsu?

"No, that's not right," she whispered to herself. "Everyone that's an ANBU knows it...but what if they all learned it _after_ Itachi left?"

'_Take the chance. It's all we can do. There's nothing else._'

Sakura wanted to take her chances with taijutsu so she could get close enough to perform the attack before she used the senbon poison. However, a different idea kept popping up in her head.

Summoning.

'But that would require a _lot_ of chakra. I'm already exhausted. I'm losing blood _still_ and I don't have very much chakra left,' she debated.

'_And Tsunade said that her regeneration jutsu was only for absolute emergencies since it'll take ten to fifteen years off our life. So...does this count as an emergency?_'

Sakura was stuck. Sure, it made sense to summon and then use the regeneration to get all fixed up. Then she could kick ass from square one with Kisame having dropped his energy. The problem was she wouldn't be able to last very long and she wasn't crazy about summoning the wolves, the only ones who could do enough damage with what little chakra she had left to summon them with. While he was distracted she could use the paralysis jutsu and then poison him, but was it really worth the damage she'd be doing to her own life?

"A shinobi's life is full of taking risks. This could be the only chance I've got," she mumbled to herself.

Knowing she had six more clones she could have them fight Kisame until she had the wolves ready. Then she'd send the wolves and while he was busy with them, she'd paralyze him and poison him. Done. End of story.

She took off running to the right, towards the side of the buildings the other Akatsuki members were occupying. She took a quick note of the sky and saw the sun was nearly completely over the border of the houses. How long had they been fighting for? She came to an abrupt halt.

'Regroup!' she thought.

The six other clones appeared around her. The real Sakura pointed to Kisame and the clones nodded and took off. Inhaling Sakura bent down to sntach the tracking scroll, tucking it away in her pocket. She jogged to the tracking dogs that were waiting for more commands and she gave a pat on the head to the bull dog.

"Thanks boys. You can go home, now," she said gratefully.

The dogs disappeared in a large cloud of smoke. Sakura looked over her shoulder at her clones and saw they were holding out pretty well. Kisame only had one taken out.

She opened her back pocket that contained a single scroll. Holding it out in front of her, she looked at it and then at Kisame and back again. She inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly.

"This had better be damn worth it," she said, opening the scroll.

She tossed it into the air, the tie coming loose. Sakura swiped her fingers in the blood still coming from her arm. The scroll came back down and she made a straight line from one end to the next with the blood before tossing it into the air again. It rolled back up, tied, and Sakura performed a few hand seals before catching it and making some more. She slammed it hard onto the ground and tiny blue waves of what looked like electricity came out following two lines. Right and left. Two large clouds of black smoke later, she found herself surrounded by beasts.

Two gargantuan wolves, each a different brilliant color, crowded in a half circle around her, growling low in their throats. The first to her right was the darkest shade of black possible with long fur and neon green eyes. The one to her left was such a magnificent shade of silver, each strand of long shaggy fur glistening as if liquid. The eyes were an icy crystal blue, nearly glowing. Both came up to just where her breasts came to an end. Sakura had been terrified of them when she first met them after Kakashi had summoned them.

Knowing the proper way to get everything going smoothly, Sakura bent forward in a very respectful bow before dropping to her knees -she was already exhausted and she'd used nearly all of her remaining chakra for that summons. She was getting really dizzy and the ground was spinning and she was _shaking_- head down.

"Sakura?" a rough yet feminine voice asked.

The pink haired girl nodded and looked up at the silver wolf that was walking towards her and stopping in front of her.

To everyone watching the discussion, they would only understand Sakura's voice. The two wolves gave short howls and other noises to communicate, but Sakura understood everything.

"I need your help."

"Both of us?" a gruff male voice said and the black wolf came over towards her.

Sakura nodded. She pointed to Kisame who was now fighting her single remaining clone.

"You see him?" she asked, voice strained.

The two wolves nodded.

"I need you to distract him." She was breathing heavily now.

"Don't you think it's a waste calling both of us then? Look at yourself! You could've used that extra chakra for a final attack," the black one scolded.

Sakura sighed and swallowed some blood that was pooling in her mouth.

"Look, he's got a demon in him. Really high level of chakra and-"

"You're going to use _it_, then," the silver wolf asked with obvious distaste.

Sakura nodded, gritting her teeth and groaning at the increased wave of pain that ran through her.

"I don't have a choice. If I can bring Kakashi back to life, I'm willing to cut short some of mine to do it," she grunted, clutching her arm.

"Bring him back?" the male asked.

Sakura nodded.

"Yes, yes, now please hurry up! He just finished off the last of my clones," she hissed, pain lacing her words.

Kuroda, the black male, took off towards Kisame while Ayumi, the silver female, stayed with Sakura to make sure she was alright and to protect her incase Kuroda got moved out of the way. Sakura amde an attempt to get up but the pain was so bad that she couldn't even hear herself think, nor could she fully comprehend Ayumi's words. She received a nudge from Ayumi's cold nose as her way of helping Sakura get up. The pink haired girl was shaking by the time she got onto one leg and she fell. Ayumi was under her to catch her and stayed there till Sakura stabilized.

When Sakura had straightened fully, Ayumi pressed her nose to the flesh of Sakura's stomach that was showing. The cold temperature felt good on her burning skin.

"You've got a fever," Ayumi warned.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a medic, aren't I? It's a basic symptom of overusing your chakra," she said, hissing again as another wave of pain crashed down on her body.

She nearly toppled over again but Ayumi kept her up. Pressing her nose against the black mark on Sakura's side, the wolf lifted the shirt up a bit, exposing it.

"You're sure about this, Sakura?" she asked hesitantly, something she could only get away with doing whenever Sakura called her.

"In order to protect someone precious to me, the people I love, to preserve _their_ lives, I can sacrifice some of mine," she said seriously, rolling the edge of her shirt up. "Besides, I'm a kunoichi. What are my chances of living past 40 anyway?" she joked.

Though her body was shaking miserably and she couldn't focus on anything other than the pain, she pushed the two sets of commands through, forming the single seal to create it.

"Infūin: Kai! Sōzō Saisei!"

Sakura's body began to glow red. A false wind blew by, whipping the strands of her hair that were loose around. The black mark on her stomach -it really _was_ a black blossom- changed into a glowing magenta color before spreading in a complex design agross her stomach and side, parts disappearing under her shirt. The markings turned back to their original black color before sinking into her skin. All the wounds on her body began to release a smoke-like substance as the skin attached itself back together again.

Right before the eyes of everyone in Akatsuki, Sakura Haruno healed herself without using a medical jutsu.

She was using a _forbidden_ jutsu.

She found a loophole in the rules.

Blood was still present on Sakura's arms and face but it didn't matter. The pain was all gone and she could see clearly. She looked down at Ayumi and nodded, grinning.

"Let's go kick some ass!" she exclaimed, smirking.

"But what about the plan?" Ayumi asked.

"He's still got too much energy left," Sakura explained. "He might be able to dodge the technique but I've only go one left to use. If I could I'd make another clone or get the tracking dogs back her but that would mean using two jutsus."

"Why can't you use them then?"

Sakura pointed her thumb at Itachi.

"He made the rules. I can only use six. I've got one left to use and that's the paralysis one. You up for a chase?" Sakura asked.

Ayumi nodded and the two were off.

"Kuroda! Fall back! I'm going to need you and Ayumi to guard his sword once I get it from him. Got it?" Sakura instructed.

The black wolf made a growling noise and backed away from Kisame to be with Ayumi. Sakura took her position near Kisame and noticed the cuts and scratches and even a few bte morks that were distinctly wolf-created. Without warning Kisame's sword lashed out at her and she ducked, using her speed to swerve around it and jump into the air. She landed back down _on top_ of the sword, momentarily shocking Kisame. Her foot slammed down on his hand and he accidentally let go on reflex.

She hopped off and aimed a punch for the older man who caught it. Bringing her knee up, he blocked it with his other head, opting to wrap his hand around her calf and throw her over him. She landed on her feet and swiftly spun around, knocking his legs out. As he was falling, she motioned for the two wolves to back away so they wouldn't get hit by the jutsu.

"Kanashibari no Jutsu!"

There was a large burst of wind that knocked Kisame flat on his back. Just as Sakura began to take a step forward, she suddenly doubled over, falling onto her knees. The jutsu she had used had served its time limit. Now she would go back to her exhausted state and would pass out. She struggled back onto her feet and continued to walk towards Kisame. When she was four feet away, she reached a hand into her hair and retrieved the senbon. Taking aim, something she found to be difficult with her now shaking hands, she shot the piece of poisoned metal at Kisame. It connected with his arm.

Twenty seconds until he would be knocked out. But she couldn't last that long. Her eyes were getting too heavy to keep open.

Fifteen seconds until he would be knocked out. Her legs began to shake, the tremors attacking her torso as well as she tried to stand tall, to out do Kisame.

Ten seconds until he would be knocked out. Her right leg gave away but she quickly regained her balance, knowing that she was strong enough to endure this. She _would_.

Five seconds until he would be knocked out. The edges of her vision turned grey. She couldn't stand any longer. Her legs collapsed from underneath her. She fell backwards and Ayumi arrived behind her to cushion her fall.

Zero seconds until he would be knocked out. Sakura's eyes were closed, the exhaustion and build-up finally having taken over. Kisame was asleep.

Sakura was warmed by Ayumi's body. When Itachi came near her to collect Sakura's body, the female animal growled threateningly at him. Itachi didn't back down or show any fear. He came to a halt in front of her.

"I'm taking her to a bed."

Ayumi wasn't wrong when she didn't trust him. However, Deidara arrived right after Itachi. Ayumi allowed the blonde to take Sakura and settled for growling again at Itachi. Kuroda appeared next to Ayumi and the two followed after Deidara. He shot Itachi a questioning glance.

"They won't last long."

He helped get Kisame to a different room to be looked at by one of the minor medics they had hired. So while Kisame thought Sakura would go home, he knew Itachi wouldn't give up so easily on the girl. The man who was so independent was so incredibly _de_pendent on Sakura for she was the key to everything. The Akatsuki couldn't complete their greatest crime in the history of everything without her. Itachi would find something that would get her to stay. He was brilliant when it came to twisting the truth into something he could use to his advantage.

It was really too bad that Sakura wouldn't know that her efforts weren't good enough.

* * *

As I skimmed this over, I realized that not only was this chapter mainly the fight between Kisame and Sakura, but it was the absolute longest scene between the same two people I've ever written. It scared me how much I wrote. But I hope I didn't make Sakura too strong like I think I did in "Dirty Little Secret". I hope I didn't make Kisame too weak, either. Or Itachi. The wolves are my creation. They're Kakashi's but not the ones he summons. He has a different one, a boy, that looks like the silver female Ayumi. But he's a guy...

So...that's chapter 3 for you guys!

Thanks Hija Del Sucio for another great bit of comedy!

"Running out on some obviously false mission: Some self torture and capture by Akatsuki. Being bribed to help S-Class criminals: 2 years of full Akatsuki medical coverage, 1 Kyubbi brat, and one extremly hot husband. Fighting a lost battle against a pissed Uchiha Itachi and actually winning: possibly 1 life. Actually LIKING a pissed Itachi Uchiha: Absolutely fuckin' priceless. There are somethings money can't buy, for everything else, there's Master Card."

**Thanks to all of my amazing reviewers!**

**Miakoda13, Skitzoflame, krystleg777, GinaCat, Raefire, MistressBlossom, honey I just wanna hear you, Chryseis Wyvernsen, kakashisninjadogs, kittykathy, Hija Del Sucio, xxxSethKisaraxxx, Kinomoto Neko, Distorted Insanity, InterwovenEmotions, Liel, xXSakakiXx, luvzsasuke, SabakuNoBrandye, sailorchick23, SpeedDemon315, Siy, Rhonda21, Sakura-Blossom-Lover, VixenOfDeath809, Heartless Ghost**

Please don't forget to review! Till later!

Backlash Symphony


	4. Arc 1: Tricky Disadvantage

Story Title: Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter Title: 4. Tricky Disadvantage

Chapter 4 of 11

Arc 1 of 4

Pairing: ItachiSakuraKisame

Rating: M (Swearing, Later chapters)

Author: Backlash Symphony

Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More epecifically, Kisame.ItaSakuKis

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Got it? I. Don't. Only my imagination frees me from rampaging the office with the ownership papers. Barely.

Extra: I figured Sakura would learn a few things from Kakashi. Sakura's a genius, anyway. She'd be able to create quite a few of her own jutsus. And all the other sannin are teaching their students forbidden techniques or really cool jutsus. Why shouldn't Sakura know a few? I don't know if Tsunade's regeneration technique is forbidden or not, but it's listed as S-Class and besides, Itachi won't know, so it's all good.

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke: 20

Itachi, Kabuto: 26

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade: 58

Text means normal writing.

'Text' means thoughts.

_'Text'_ mean Inner Sakura's thoughts.

**Text** means flashback.

Here we go!

* * *

When Sakura woke up, her head was pounding and her body felt exhausted despite the fact that she'd been asleep for what felt like _days_. She groaned pathetically, bringing a hand up to rub her temple gently, easing chakra through the layers of skin and bone. Within a few moments, the throbbing lessened until it was completely gone. She suddenly felt fur rubbing against her bare arm and she jolted up, looking down. Her heart sped up momentarily but at the sight of the silver wolf she had summoned earlier, her heart slowed down. Ayumi whimpered softly and Sakura took the time to look for Kuroda. 

She found Itachi sitting at the edge of her bed, watching her with a blank expression. Deidara was standing behind him, tossing a piece of clay from one hand to the other, a bored expression on his face. Sakura blinked in surprise, eyes narrowing slightly at Itachi's seemingly bored gaze. Kisame was nowhere to be found in the room but she spotted the red haired Gaara look-alike resting against the wall by the door.

He looked so familiar to her but she couldn't place it where she'd seen him before. She kept telling herself it was his near identical looks and expressions to Gaara that made her feel familiar with him.

Another quick glance aorund the room reminded her that Kuroda was missing. Sakura turned her head down to the silver wolf laying beside her bed.

"Where's Kuroda?" she asked, stifling a yawn.

While the others only heard a light growl, Sakura understood the words.

"He said he was taking too much chakra from you and that I used less," Ayumi said.

Sakura nodded, hand rubbing her temple again.

"Got it. How long have I been out for?"

"Nearly two days...yeah," Deidara answered, holding the clay still in one hand and turning his gaze onto her.

Sakura looked at him and raised both of her brows in surprise.

"Two days?" she repeated loudly.

The blonde nodded.

"I must've done too much," Sakura muttered under her breath, pressing her hands to her eyes to rub away the sleep.

"You should've been out for longer," Itachi said with a hint of curiosity in his voice. "I doubt that jutsu of yours would've prevented you from a full recovery."

Sakura glared at the red eyed man seated on the bed. She drew her knees -the blankets were still over most of her body- to her chest and interlocked her fingers in front of them.

"As a medic, my body has been trained to heal faster than a normal shinobi's would. It's nowhere near the rate Naruto can heal at, but it's still better than nothing," she explained. "So what's with the wake-up welcoming party?" she queried, eyeing the blonde behind Itachi who was now tossing the clay into the air again.

"There're some specifics to our deal that we need to go over," Itachi began. "You have to be briefed on the work we expect from you and-"

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_, hold up!" Sakura cried, jumping forward, letting go of her legs and kneeling on the bed. "What are you talking about? I'm not doing any work for you!"

Itachi raised a brow in question and Sakura saw the corner of his mouth twitch up in a slight smirk. She felt heavy, her chest becoming constricted. What did he mean? She won! She _won_!

"Where would you like me to start, Sakura?" he asked smugly. "The rules you broke? Or the outcome of the fight itself?"

"I didn't break any rules!" she hissed.

"Is that so?" he asked, smirk growing. "I specifically instructed you to use only six ninjutsu and _no_ medical ninjutsu."

"And I obeyed those ludicris rules! I only used _five_ ninjutsu," she defended, shifting off of her knees to swing her legs off of the bed.

"So that little healing jutsu you used doesn't count under each category? And the unlocking jutsu before it?"

Sakura grit her teeth at the blatant direction this conversation was heading. She rose to her feet, wobbling slightly but quickly finding her balance, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You never said I couldn't use a forbidden jutsu, Uchiha. I wasn't allowed to use a medical ninjutsu but you failed to specify whether forbidden techniques were allowed or not," she protested.

"An S-Class jutsu doesn't make it forbidden, Sakura," Itachi explained, choosing to stand as well.

"Since when did you become the jutsu expert, Uchiha?" Sakura huffed, seeing the man's mouth open to respond. "Don't answer that," she snapped. "The jutsu I used regenerates your body, completely healing any and every illness or medical problem one might have. The price for that jutsu is ten to fifteen years knocked off of your life. The advanced healing abilities can only last so long before the entire body gives, but anyone who uses it becomes invincible in battle," Sakura explained frustratedly. "So you're telling me that an age shortening regeneration technique isn't actually forbidden? You know nothing on the subject, therefore my word overrules yours, and you have no expertise in _my_ world," she concluded.

Itachi's smirk didn't falter one bit, however, and he took a step closer to the pink haired woman. A harsh growl from Sakura's right caused Sakura's attention to snap to Ayumi. Itachi slowly placed his gaze on the silver creature that was looking at him like he was its next meal.

"Even if I were to give that point to your benefit, there are still two more areas you couldn't claim victory over."

"And what areas would you be referencing to?"

Itachi made a soft noise in the back of his throat that Sakura would've dubbed made from amusement.

"You still used seven ninjutsu," he stated simply.

Sakura glared at him again, obviously becoming incredibly pissed.

"I only used five, now that we've agreed the regeneration technique was forbidden. The kunai clones, Kage Bunshin, Tracking Summons, Wolf Summons, and Paralysis," she listed angrily. "Count 'em, that's _five_!"

"You're missing two," the redhead announced in a bored tone.

Sakura's attention shifted to him and she gave him a questioing expression.

"While Kisame had issued the mist to fill the area, you performed the Kage Bunshin technique. One of the clones attacked using an Earth Style technique. The clone attacked from underground, dragging Kisame down," he explained slowly, eyes remaining shut.

Sakura's nose wrinkled in annoyance.

"And? That's only six. I didn't break the limit."

"The technique required in order for your regeneration jutsu to work is a fairly basic one that counts as a ninjutsu and is not forbidden for it is commonly used among shinobi with chakra reserves. It's a separate technique from the healing one," he finished. "So that counts as seven ninjutsu, not six."

Sakura shook her head slowly. No, this couldn't have been right. She'd calculated everything to work out and she'd counted out everything. How had she missed one? And they'd known about the release! How was it possible that they knew about a technique that had only been used once? Orochimaru and Kabuto were both present when Tsunade had used it but Orochimaru was on the top of the Akatsuki Most Wanted list along with Kabuto for betraying them. They wouldn't have told them something that they could profit off of. How had they discovered it?

"And the last flaw with your claim is that you didn't win. You and Kisame both fell and passed out at the same time. the battle was a draw, so neither of you won," Itachi explained.

"But you didn't win, either," Sakura protested.

"But the deal was that _you_ had to win. A draw is not a win," the redhead said.

Sakura's eyes slid shut and she felt everything come crashing down on her. She'd lost. She'd failed Naruto and Kakashi. She'd failed Tsunade and Shizune and had used a technique she had been warned more times than she cared to remember not to use unless it was absolutely neccessary. She had wasted all the reserved chakra for nothing. She'd lost.

She'd _lost_.

And now she had to help the organization that had destroyed not only her life, but the lives of those closest to her? Sasuke, who was forever bent on revenge for the merciless murders of his clan, Naruto, whose only fault was being chosen to host the Kyuubi, and Kakashi, who only feared leaving the ones he loved behind and had done so when he had gotten past it.

She was helping criminals who hurt everyone she loved. She was helping them...

And there was _nothing_ she could do to stop them.

To save her friends.

She could feel the burning sensation in her eyes and forced herself not to cry. She refused to show these men what they could reduce her to. She had vowed to never cry again after Kakashi died, settling for wallowing in her own pain in place of the salty substance that stood only as a weakness.

"Ayumi, go home," Sakura commanded, struggling not to let her voice crack.

She heard a whimper come from the animal and she opened her eyes as far as they would open, slits, and turned her head to look at the silver wolf.

"Don't make me repeat myself," she whispered, voice strained as she tried to breath evenly.

Ayumi disappeared in a puff of smoke and Sakura turned her attention back to Itachi.

"Details," she said, sitting back down on the bed.

She took a pillow and squeezed it to her chest, gaze on the floor as she prepped her mind to take in everything she would be required to do.

"We need you to connect Kisame's chakra pathways to the demon's. That's the most important objective," Itachi began. "You'll need to find a way to control the demon so Kisame isn't taken over or killed. The last thing we need is a rampaging demon bent on destroying everything."

"That's our job...yeah," Deidara chirped cheerfully.

Sakura would've laughed at his level of happiness, too, had she not felt like a failure at that moment. She couldn't help but wonder why Deidara was in the Akatsuki organization when he was so laid back and...and _happy_ all the time. He reminded her a lot like Ino when it came to the hair, but his personality was so close to Naruto's. Was it just her over analytical mind, or did everyone in Akatsuki remind her of someone she knew back at home?

Deidara and Naruto were very similar. Itachi and Sasuke were more similar than anyone else due to their bloodline. And the redhead looked like Gaara.

"We expect you to report your findings immediately, no matter how insignificant you may think they are. A full written detailed report is to be filed once a week. You are to take meticulous notes that I will review once a week alongside any discoveries you may make," Itachi continued. "While you're here, you'll also take care of some other medical problems that are urgent. Minor injuries we can handle, but your _expertise_ in this area places you at the top of the list for healing."

Sakura sighed heavily, absorbing the information. She had no idea how long this was going to take. She could be here for as little as a month or as long as a few years, and then she had to heal Itachi's eyes on top of _that_ and then serve an additional two years after she finished healing the two before Kakashi would be brought back to life.

"So much for a peaceful mission," Sakura mumbled, eyes closing as she fell backwards onto her back, the soft blankets piled beneath her head. "Simple mission turns out to be more complex than Shikamaru could handle, then I get held hostage, am forced to fight a demon carrier and expected to win, cut my life short by 15 years, and am stuck healing a bunch of psycho criminals," she whispered to herself, bringing a hand up to rub her eyes. "All in a day's work," she groaned. "So what am I getting to work with?"

"A lab has been set up for you to conduct your research in. Top of the line equipment with all the supplies you'll need for testing and experimenting. There are binders for monthly findings to be filed away in and blank paged notebooks to take notes in and sketch in. Folders with lined papers are stacked and ready for weekly reports. The room has bookcases to the ceiling for any medical research you need to have done alongside the basic work," Itachi explained.

"Sounds like you've put a lot of work into planning this out," she said with a wry laugh. "So, when do I start?"

"Right now."

"I haven't eaten in nearly three days. If you actually expect me to do anything involving chakra, I should be getting food before anything else," she hissed.

She thought she heard Itachi sigh, but the sound was very light and she barely caught it.

"Sasori can take you to the kitchen before escorting you to Kisame's room."

The name clicked in Sakura's brain.

"Sasori?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes. Is there a problem with it?"

Sakura shot up, eyes focusing on the redhaired man at the door to the room. With wide eyes her mouth dropped open and she pointed a shaky finger at him.

"No-no-no-no-no-no-_no_!" she cried. "He's _dead_! We killed him! I saw him die! Wha-how?"

Itachi smirked, knowing the truth behind Sasori's "resurrection", but deciding that for a smoother transition into the future, he'd twist the story a bit.

Just a bit.

"I told you we could bring Hatake back to life, didn't I? Do you believe me now?" he asked, smirk growing.

She turned her head to look at him before shifting back to the other man.

"But, it's not possible to recreate a dead person's body. Once the heart and the brain stop functioning, the body decomposes and once it starts, you can't stop it unless you preserve it! Even then it will eventually be destroyed," she protested, babbling. "And how do I know he won't kill me for killing him?"

"Because I don't benefit from killing you. I'd most likely be killed anyway," Sasori explained. "Now stop complaining and follow me."

Sakura hopped off of the bed hesitantly, scanning over her clothes as if it had just struck her that someone could've changed her. She opened her mouth to ask who had switched her clothes from torn and bloodied tank top and shorts to clean and fresh black pajama bottoms and a light green tank top. Where was her bag? Had they already gone searching through it to find clothes for her?

"Sakura."

Sakura hurried past Itachi and Deidara and followed Sasori out of the room, making sure to stay at least five feet behind him. At _least_. They were in a completely different building from what she could see. The halls were bare and made of a dark wood floor and had a light brown colored wallpaper. There were doors every ten feet or so, each a bold shade of red. The halls seemed to wind around in an intricate maze of doors and seemingly mirrored images. After a few minutes of trying to memorize the way back to her room, she gave up. She wouldn't remember.

They finally reached the stairs and Sasori led her down them and to the right, into yet another hall. Sakura vaguely noted the left was composed of a simple wall hosting a single black door. Following Sasori down the doorless hallway they quickly emerged into an ordinary looking kitchen.

A long table in the center of the room, cleared off completely except for a large bowl of assorted fruit. There was a sink beside a dishwasher under a set of windows with a drying rack next to it. A fridge sat in the corner and there were multiple cupboards on the other half of the room. A garbage can could be found next to the spice rack on the wall. _Yes_. They even had a _spice rack_ next to the fridge.

'_They probably have animal or flower print ovenmitts!'_

'Hey! It's about time you decided to show up!'

'_We're under enough stress! How dare Itachi trick us like that!_'

Sakura deemed this the perfect time to shut off all thoughts and she took Sasori's signal to eat. She moved for the fruit, thinking it would be the easiest to eat as well as the simplest to detect poison on. Gathering chakra to layer her hand, Sakura reached into the bowl to wrap around a peach, sending her chakra to filter through it. She detected no poison and repeated the test on an apple, coming to the same conclusion that it was safe to eat.

She settled down in one of the chairs and ate silently, forcing her mind to focus only on eating rather than what it wanted to do. She didn't want to think about anything concerning the Akatsuki or demons or anything of the sort. She wanted to be home, snuggling under Kakashi's covers and inhaling the scent that was purely Kakashi, what helped her get to sleep even before she realized she loved him.

But she would never be able to do that again without feeling guilty. What had she done? Had she gone so low that she had to turn to the most feared criminals to save her? Despite the deal, the fact that she'd stooped this low made her feel weak again.

"You done?"

Sakura swallowed the last bit of apple and held the two inner fruits in her hands. With a nod she left her chair, remembering to push it in, and tossed her trash out. Hurriedly she washed her hands and shook them dry before following Sasori back out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. She thought they were heading back up the stairs but he kept moving straight ahead towards the black door.

"This place is so different. I don't remember seeing any buildings this big, either," she muttered, eyes locked on the door ahead of her.

"It was all a genjutsu. You're at the second Akatsuki base," Sasori explained, placing his hand on the doorknob.

"Oh."

When he opened the door, Sakura first thought they had been taken outside due to the bright light that flooded from the opening. However, it quickly faded and Sakura walked through the door and into a lab. Her eyes surveyed the various tools and tables. Test tubes were still in packages and slides had yet to be touched. Fresh pens and pencils were in a holder near three separate stacks of note taking equipment. There was a computer hooked to a printer and spare ink cartridges and other items she'd never thought she'd see outside of magazines due to their high prices.

She figured she must've been gawking because her name was shouted to get her attention and she had to remember that she was on enemy territory, not a medic testing spree. She turned her head slowly to see Kisame slouched against the far wall, a chair and an examining table a few feet in front of him. A quick glance to the side presented an absence of red hair and Sakura looked over her shoulder to see the door had been shut.

'_How'd he leave so fast!_'

"I'd hate to fight you when you've got full use of your techniques," Kisame began, pushing off of the wall to sit in the chair in front of him.

Sakura turned to look at him and raised a brow in question and disbelief. She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side.

"Really now?" she asked flatly. "It wouldn't do that much difference unless you intend to fight using a fraction of your power."

He chuckled and looked up at the ceiling for a few moments before making eye contact with Sakura.

"Was it really that obvious?"

Sakura scoffed and let her arms drop to her sides. She walked over to the desk where a notebook lay and grabbed it along with one of the writing utensils she had been supplied with. Flipping the cover of the notebook open, she pressed the pencil down to the first blank page and labeled it with the date, her estimated time, Kisame's name, and 'Day 1' at the top.

"Incredibly obvious," she finally said, turning to walk towards him somewhat, mind working to come up with her first step of action. "You could've easily taken me out in less than ten seconds yet the fight lasted about..." she paused, tapping the pen against her lower lip, "an hour or so?"

Kisame chuckled again and rolled his eyes.

"But you're a great strategist despite the fact that I could've beaten so easily," he explained. "You don't forget things. That technique you did in the Mist was something you copied from a similar scenario back when you were a genin, back when Hatake-san wasn't even someone you'd held any respect for let alone felt anything for," he continued.

'Hatake-san?'

"That was a single point in our fight that deserves credit. You sacrificing what you did to win...I would've told you not to use that jutsu if I had known what you had to pay for it."

Sakura sucked in a slow breath, closing her eyes. Why did he have to bring that up? She hadn't even thought about it since the fight ended and she'd just wasted 15 years of her -not so- precious life.

"Why did you bother to make me feel like I had a chance? Why didn't you just beat me and get it over with?" she asked, voice low.

"I work with Itachi. I never said I agreed with him."

Sakura's eyes snapped open and she looked directly at Kisame.

"What did you just say?"

He looked at her oddly for a moment before speaking.

"I felt it was unfair to limit you as much as he had-"

"No, no, not that," she interupted, shaking her head. "You said _Itachi_. Why?"

"That's his name."

Sakura's lips turned up slightly in a semi-sarcastic smile.

"Why didn't you call him Itachi-_san­_? You called Kakashi _Hatake-san_."

Kisame made a soft sound to show his understanding.

"Hatake-san was someone who deserved respect for his beliefs and his courage. Itachi couldn't care less about anyone else and couldn't care more about himself. What he wants, he gets, and he'll go about doing everything he can to get it. I respect his knowledge and his power, but I don't respect _him_. He's not one to be honored."

Sakura scowled at Kisame.

"Honored? Every person in the Akatsuki is a murderer. What would any of you know about honor? What would any of you know about respect?" she snapped.

The look on Kisame's face hadn't changed, just hardened slightly. It was as if he'd heard this every day since he was a child and it was simply something he could dismiss.

"Keep in mind that you only know of Itachi's history before he arrived in Akatsuki. We're not all like him. At least half of us are here for reasons different from lusting for power," he corrected her.

Sakura's face softened considerably at his words, knowing he was absolutely right but finding she refused to believe it -not that it did her much good to deny it.

"You're right, I suppose," she agreed, sighing softly.

'Why is he so polite? Even Deidara isn't this polite...exactly...'

'_...yeah._'

Sakura let out a short laugh at the final though her inner self produced and shook her head at Kisame's questioning gaze.

"You act differently around the others than you do with me. And reason in particular why you trust me so much? I mean, how do you know I won't go tattling to Itachi?"

Kisame rose to his feet, giving Sakura the silent intimidating reminder that he could crush her if he wanted to, and instead sat down on the examining table.

"Who said I trusted you? And besides, you hate Itachi. You're not about to ruin your chances of badmouthing him without risking your life," Kisame explained.

'He's got a point.'

"Right, but that still doesn't change the fact that you're polite and respectful around me. It's a big change from bloodlust and hate," she said quietly.

He sighed in response and Sakura didn't pry any further. It surprised her he had even told her as much as he had to begin with. But he had made a good point. She only knew about Itachi. The rest of them had their reasons for joining the Akatsuki, and if Deidara was any indication, they couldn't be all that bad. Or perhaps Deidara had an ulterior motive and was only being nice because there was another plan involving her becoming friends with someone?

'Nah, there isn't some other plan.'

But who would've thought someone would actually not like Itachi when they've got a permanent job being his partner? It didn't make much sense and the same thoughts for Deidara appeared in her head, but she highly doubted Kisame pretending to be nice and pretending to hate Itachi -not that it was hard to hate the bastard- to get her trust. Nothing seemed to jump out at her for reasons she'd also be needed apart from the near impossible chance Orochimaru wanted her in place of Tsunade, but she knew Orochimaru was on the wanted list for the Akatsuki, so she pushed the thought from her mind.

"So where do I start?" she asked herself, going back to tapping the pen against her lip.

She vaguely heard Kisame laugh as she thought and finally figured she should just take a basic look at the inside of his body, fix anything that hadn't been fixed, and then work on him from there by examining any differences his body had from a normal man's body. With a heavy sigh, she moved closer to Kisame, pushing the chair away with her foot. Standing right in front of him she noticed that even when he was sitting he was a good two feet taller than she was.

"How long do we have right now?"

"About three hours before dinner's called."

Nodding, she took in a deep breath and began.

"I'll start by healing any remaining injuries from our fight," she explained, writing something down in her notebook. "Once I've finished and you're clear to proceed, I'll begin a basic examination. Uh, would it be too hard to get someone else to compare you to?"

Kisame noted her nearly pleading tone, knowing she wasn't pleading for a different subject, but for a specific person.

"Anyone in mind?"

"Deidara would be nice. He's not about to get angry, force everyone to back away from him, and then make me feel like I'm about to get raped," she said with a hint of a smile and a sarcastic tone.

Kisame nodded and made a move to get off of the table when Sakura's hand shot out to very _very_ lightly press against his arm.

"I don't need him right now. I can work with you until there's nothing else to check," she explained.

"Ah."

Sakura couldn't believe she was going to go through with this. It was such bullshit. A draw? Honestly, where did Itachi get off twisting things like this with her? Not that she had any plans to trust him anyway, she knew she'd never be able to. He was worse than the rumors. If anything, she had a hunch that the rumors were made to show Itachi's "kinder" side so he could find more entertainment in killing more people. He'd managed to twist her into these plans of his, trick her into a fight she knew she'd lose, and he _dared_ to get angry with _her_ because she didn't want to cooperate. He was angry with _her_.

**_Her_**!

If anyone should've been angry, Sakura's name would've been the first on the list. She was stuck working not only for the organization after her best friend, but working under the man responsible for ruining Sasuke's life and murdering her husband.

'Ooo if I could just get that bastard immobile. I'd teach _him_ the meaning of pain!'

'_He needs to learn to keep his hands to himself! Only Kakashi had rights to touch us the way Itachi did!_'

With a sigh, Sakura cleared her mind once again and resumed her professional persona. Readying her notebook and pen, she looked up at Kisame.

"You can start by taking your shirt off," Sakura instructed, setting her items aside on the chair and assuming the rest of his body would look like his face.

She turned away and walked to the desk, opening a drawer in search of a stethoscope. After a few moments of rummaging, she heard the light rustle of cloth behind her and a soft plop at the shirt hit the ground. In the back of the second drawer, she located the equipment she needed and made a sound of triumph. Pulling it from the back of the drawer, she settled it around her neck and turned to walk back to Kisame.

Her step faltered slightly at the sight before her. Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second before she regained herself and continued forward.

'O...k...so that's not what I was expecting, but that's alright, I suppose...'

Sakura took a deep breath and exhaled before placing the ear pieces in her ears and allowing the metal part of the stethoscope to hover over the upper left of his chest.

"Ready?" she asked, focusing her eyes anywhere but on him.

"You're the medic here," he grumbled.

She pressed the cool metal to his skin, half hoping he'd jump like so many of her other patients did, but finding that he didn't. Swallowing her disappointment, she opened her mouth to instruct him to breathe in when he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

'He's probably gone through this more times than he'd like to remember.'

Everything sounded normal so she moved the metal piece down and he repeated the same action as before. Nothing awkward. Once more on the left proved it to be normal as any other person's. She moved it to the right, passing over his heart as she did, and nearly jumped at the faint beating it produced. Brows furrowing, she brought the stethoscope to rest over his heart and found herself straining to hear the slow beats.

Her eyes scanned the room briefly for a clock before she remembered the watch on her arm. Looking down, she matched up the pulses with a thirty second time length and realized his heartbeat was nearly half as much as it should've been. For someone housing two hearts, it should've been twice as fast, like Naruto's was, like Gaara's had been, but it wasn't. Pulling away from him, she set about scribbling the new information down.

"You wouldn't happen to have any previous medical records here, would you?" she asked distantly, still writing.

Kisame shrugged.

"Itachi would know."

Sakura shuddered at the thought of going _near_ that _thing_. Seriously, how long had Itachi been in charge? Wasn't there supposed to be some leader or something?

"Lovely," she said bitterly before sighing.

She set her notes down, set on completing the rest of the examination before she went to find Deidara to examine, or before she ran into Itachi and read up on the medical records they had, if they had any at all. Whichever came first.

"Alright then, I'll take care of it later," she mumbled, turning back to face Kisame.

He was the complete opposite of what she'd expected him to be like. His skin was still as blue as his face, but he was built like any good shinboi should be, with muscles up to the wazoo and a decent collection of scars to showcase and keep track of their victories. There were no markings on the otherwise flawless skin, and he wasn't disfigured in any way. From her guess, his face had to have been the only shark-like quality he'd inherited. Well, that, and the skin color. But she couldn't detect any other outwardly physical problems.

After checking his breathing -his breathing was perfect-, and writing a few more notes on his irregular heart -something she found eerily fascinating since any normal person would've had to have been dying in order for their heart to be this slow-, she checked his spine to make sure it was straight and discovered a thin black line about six inches long directly over his spine on the center of his back.

'So much for no markings.'

She made a new note about the line and wrote her possible ideas of what it could be.

She completed the remainder of the physical exam just as a knock came to the door. Kisame was bent over in search of his shirt when Sakura called out that whoever it was could come in. He spotted his shirt underneath the chair and as he stood to put it back on, he saw a grinning Deidara at the door with a mischeivious look in his eye. He sent a glare at the blonde, knowing the look better than any other action he had ever shown.

"So how's everything going?...yeah," he asked with a smirk.

Sakura raised a brow at him, obviously knowing something was up with him. She could _feel_ Kisame's reaction to the man, and knew that they knew something she didn't know.

"I've got no clue what the hell I'm supposed to do," Sakura began, "and I can't figure out where to go from here unless I have medical records and someone to compare his examination results to," she explained in a stern voice.

Deidara's grin became impossibly wider and Sakura was now absolutely _positive_ he was up to something, and apparently the soft growl she heard from behind her proved Kisame knew something as well. Deidara's inching away from them and back towards the entrance didn't relieve her at all.

"Well, dinner's ready, but I suppose if you're _busy_, then I could save some for you...yeah."

'_Oh, he did _not_ just imply _that'

'With Kis_ame_?'

Sakura's hands clenched into fists and she took a slow breath to calm herself, knowing it wasn't about to work.

"You've got five seconds to get out of my sight before I pummel you, blondie," Sakura growled.

Kisame was already walking past her before she could count to one and she watched as he shut the door behind him, exiting without a single sound. So as far as she knew, she was alone. No one was here to see her.

Scream.

Go ahead, just do it.

Scream.

Opening her mouth, she sucked in a big breath, and ended up screaming silently. She didn't know how it was possible to not make a sound, but she was doing just that. She waited a few more moments before forcing herself to calm down. Holding the notebook she had taken notes in, she closed the cover and headed for the door. Best get this all over with sooner than later, right? Upon reaching the door, she exited the room and followed through the building intil she arrived into the kitchen, smells overpowering her senses. Fruit wasn't something that would hold her over long enough.

The notebook was held tightly in her hand as she entered the kitchen, jade eyes widening in surprise at the family like view before her. Each member of the Akatsuki was sitting at the table with a steaming bowl of some sort of broth and meat concoction.

"Lovely, you kill people on a whim yet you dine like a normal family," she mumbled under her breath, noting how all the attention was now on her.

"Sakura!" Deidara called out happily. "Take a seat...yeah," he said pointing to the empty chair beside him.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but found she couldn't form the words. She held her hand up in a gesture that meant she'd answer him in a few moments and walked over to the closest end of the table where Itachi sat facing her, calmly sipping what appeared to be sake.

'_Great, just _great_! Being with them when they're sober is bad enough, but now we need to deal with them when they're _drunk!_ What the hell are we doing, running a zoo?_'

She squeezed the notebok in her hand and paused a few feet away from the elder Uchiha. He took a long sip from his alcohol without acknowledging her and she knew he was doing it on purpose to extend her feelings of nervousness and irritation. However, she was going to leave that room whether he wanted her to or not.

"I need a few things before I can proceed with the testing," she began. "Call it research or whatever it is you want to call it, but I need the medical records of Kisame and Deidara, first."

Itachi slowly looked up at her upon the mention of Deidara's name.

"Me?...yeah," the blonde asked, shocked.

"Why do you need Deidara's medical records?" Itachi asked as he placed his cup down on the table.

"I can't simply examine Kisame. The data is bound to be different but I need someone to compare it to," she explained. "I don't know if the differences are caused by the demon or if they're a trait all of you carry here in the Akatsuki organization."

"So why me?...yeah," Deidara chirped.

Sakura turned her head to Deidara.

"Exactly, why him?" Itachi asked, steepling his hands beneath his chin.

Her head turned back to Itachi.

"He's the most like Kisame here," she paused, "and I can trust that he won't kill me, hurt me, eat me, or _rape_ me," she concluded, glaring at him as she said the last bit.

The corner of his lips quirked upwards and Sakura sighed quietly in annoyance.

"Is that right, now?"

"If you're refusing to give me the materials I need to make an accurate performance, then I suppose I'll just have to go get my things and be on my way," she said in a low tone laced with amusement.

She shifted as if making a move to walk out of the kitchen when Itachi spoke.

"Sakura if you even _think_ of breaking our deal I'll-"

"-torture me, yes, I get it," she interrupted. "My, you sound like you're just waiting for a chance to torture me, huh?" she asked with an "I Know _Everything_" look in her eyes. "I'll put it to you this way," she continued. "If you get on my good side, _may_be I'll let you have a couple of minutes to do with me as your black little heart desires," she offered with a barely contained grin.

She didn't say anything else immediately as she turned and headed for the exit of the kitchen.

"Oh, and one last thing," she added, pausing at the door and looking over her shoulder into the raging crimson eyes across the room, "I recommend leather and chains. You're the type."

And she was gone without another word, triumphantly smirking and looking forward to a good night's sleep and knowing that the last image she would see before she was claimed by darkness would be the pissed off look she'd forced onto Itachi's face.

Deidara looked from Itachi to the exit and back again. The opportunity was too obvious. It was too tempting.

"When she said you were the type, did she mean you were the _dom_inant or the sub_missive_?...yeah."

* * *

Erm, well, school started, I've got four other stories I'm working on (three not posted yet, but one is the sequel to "Dirty Little Secret", the other is a YondaimeSakura story, and the last is an IbikiSakura pairing) and believe it or not, I've got a social life! Honestly, I'd drop school if I didn't need to be there, and I'd drop my social life if I didn't need to get out of the house every once in a while. And did I mention my birthday is the 19th of this month? I'm planning a party! It's going to be a Scavenger Hunt/Twister (the game with the colored dots)/Grammies mix, and although it's kinda younger kid-ish, I'm sick of being adult-ish when I'm not, so this is the perfect excuse to let loose this Saturday when the party starts!

And I finished the prologue of my novel! I'm so happy since I never work on something straight from the beginning and I've done it! However, I'm looking for people who would be willing to read it and give me feedback and/or constructive criticism.

So I ended up having Kisame say "Hatake-san" instead of "Hatake" like Itachi says -though he says it because he thinks it's disrespectful that way, like Sakura calls him "Uchiha" in an origin of disrespect- or simply "Kakashi". Why? Because I want to. Will you see anyone else saying it? Probably not. Maybe Hokage-sama, but that's it. If Sakura get's closer to anyone else, perhaps, but I highly doubt it. I'm only using it for Kisame for now because there's a point I'm proving with him.

And the leather and chains bit, well it was inspired by a three-way phone call between my friend, her boyfriend, and myself, and we talk about lots of things, and we joke around about being into S & M and which one of us will take the lead, so I was talking on the phone last night and I remembered. I was like, "Oh there is no way I can't not put this in there!" and so I did.

**Thanks to all of my amazing reviewers!**

**Miakoda13, Skitzoflame,****krystleg777,** **GinaCat,** **Raefire, MistressBlossom, honey I just wanna hear you,** **Chryseis Wyvernsen,****kakashisninjadogs,** **Hija Del Sucio,** **xxxSethKisaraxxx, InterwovenEmotions, Liel,** **xXSakakiXx,** **luvzsasuke, sailorchick23, SpeedDemon315,** **Siy,** **Rhonda21, VixenOfDeath809, Heartless Ghost, crimson-asylum, jenfrog, MagenKyotenChiten, SweetAssassin, Lady Light, Natsu Yukili, theoneandonlydarkpowderpuff, kaze mo, aznmelon, Mrs cake, Marsgoddess1, Theif of the Sand**

Please don't forget to review! Till later!

Backlash Symphony


	5. Arc 1: Sneaking Suspicion

Story Title: Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter Title: 5. Sneaking Suspicion

Chapter 5 of 11

Arc 1 of 4

Pairing: ItachiSakuraKisame

Rating: M (Swearing, Later chapters)

Author: Backlash Symphony

Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More epecifically, Kisame.ItaSakuKis

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Got it? I. Don't.

Extra: I loved that little bit at the end of last chapter, and apparently so did the majority of you guys. Heh, I can't wait until later on in the story. I know a lot of you are going to get ready to strangle me...And I'm using 'baka' because I like it. I really do. I sometimes wish it didn't mean what it means because it's fun to say when you stretch it out. "Baaaaaakaa." See? Say it with me now. "Baaaaaaakaaa." Isn't it fun? This chapter is going to be kinda boring, but I urge you to read it because it's the most important chapter so far. The details in the exams and experiments are crucial in figuring out what the hell Deidara and Itachi were talking about earlier on in the story.

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke: 20

Itachi, Kabuto: 26

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade: 58

Text means normal writing.

'Text' means thoughts.

_'Text' _mean Inner Sakura's thoughts.

**Text** means flashback.

-_Text_- means something written.

* * *

"For the fifth time, _blondie_, shut. **Up!**" 

Crash!

"Don't be so violent!...yeah!"

Shatter!

"Don't give me a reason to be, _baka_!"

Slam!

"Just settle down!...yeah! You don't want Itachi coming in here!...yeah!"

Glare.

"God..damn...ugh!"

With a frustrated groan the pink haired medic lowered her arm, and the glass petri dish in her hand, to the desk.

'Real nice. He's the _last_ person we need in here.'

'_Not exactly in the mood to be chained to the desk._'

Deidara hesitantly popped his head above the back of the examination table, blue eye suspicious and accusing as they faintly glared at Sakura's tense figure. He half expected her to pick that dish right back up and whip it at his head, but when she set it down for good he figured he was safe.

For the moment.

Slowly, he rose up till he was straight. Sakura made a motion with her head to the table as she snatched an item from the desk beside the petri dish. He followed her silent intructions, wary of the woman's monstrous strength and evil temper. Sakura walked over until she had her knees and thighs pressed against the side of the table. Exhaling harshly, she reached out for Deidara's arm, watching with silent amusement as he flinched slightly.

"Last part of the exam is a blood sample," Sakura explained as she revealed the needle and alcohol pad to the blond.

He jerked his arm back, clutching it to his naked chest protectively, eye wide.

"Why a blood test? Sharky has normal blood!...yeah!" he protested, unconciously leaning backwards.

Sakura rolled her eyes and snatched his arm back, holding his wrist tightly.

"Don't be such a baby," she teased, tearing open the alcohol pad with her teeth.

"But I don't like needles!...yeah," he added quickly as Sakura wiped a spot at his inner arm.

'_Why do all the bad guys have to have such great bodies? Why couldn't God just get _one thing _**right **and make them all ugly and pimply so we wouldn't have to see-_'

'Enough!'

"Then look away," she grumbled before lining up the needle with a vein.

She would skip using a tourniquet this time. He was annoying her to no end just by the way he was acting. Seriously? What could _possibly_ be scary about some grown man who acts like a five-year-old?

His mouth opened to protest again but she tuned him out and pierced his skin with the thin strip of metal. She heard him cry out in response but focused in extracting enough blood to fill the small bottle attached to the needle. After a few moments the dark liquid hit the marker and Sakura pulled the needle out. With a swipe of her finger over the small drop of blood that escaped his arm, the hole healed leaving no mark.

She headed back over to one of the desks, depositing the bottle onto the table while she wrote out Deidara's name on a small sticker and placed it on the bottle. Finished with the details, she put it in an empty place no the holder at the back next to a bottle with Kisame's name on it. With a sigh, she turned to dismiss Deidara when she saw him inspecting the spot where she had drawn blood from. She raised a brow in question before rolling her eyes again.

"What are you doing?" she said irritably, crossing her arms over her chest.

'There's no way this can be good...'

"How come I don't get a band-aid?...yeah."

"What?" she asked in disbelief. "A _band_-aid?"

He nodded his blonde head enthusiastically, lips forming a grin. Sakura's mouth nearly dropped open.

"Like the ones the little kids get!...yeah!"

'_Just lost brain cells on that one.'_

Sakura's eyes closed and she threw her hands up into the air, shaking her head. She headed for the door.

"Put your shirt on," she groaned.

She heard a thump from behind her and didn't bother to turn, merely unlocking and opening the door and moving out into the hallway. She noticed that it was slightly warmer out there than in the lab, but the appearance of a much warmer heat nearly against her back made her cry out in surprise. She spun around, stumbling backwards as she looked at the grinning expression on Deidara's face. She caught herself just in time before she fell to the floor.

"God _damnit_ Deidara! Don't _do_ that!" she cried, but suddenly noticed he didn't have his shirt on yet. "Why are you still half naked?"

His grin never faltered as he walked past her, sniffing the air.

"I'll put it on after lunch...yeah," he said with a wave of dismissal.

Sakura let out a growl and opened her mouth to yell back at him but realized that he wouldn't listen to her as his stomach controlled him while lunch was ready. She ran back into the lab, searched for a few seconds before she found his shirt under the chair. She ran back to the smaller hallway between the main hall and the kitchen, fingers clutching his black shirt. She cursed under her breath, mind conjuring images of the blonde in situations involving lots of pain inflicted by her. As she emerged from the hall, caught in her fantasies of making the blonde scream in pain, she slammed into something solid.

Abruptly pulled from her thoughts, she steadied herself before she nearly fell again. However, she was grabbed by her shoulders harshly.

"Don't be such a-"

The shirt fell from her hand as her eyes took in the figure steadying her.

'_Out of all of the guys, _why_ did it have to be _him'

"U-Uchiha."

He regarded her silently for a moment, eyes scanning her face. With a soft noise in his throat, he released her.

"Watch that mouth of yours," he said with a hint of amusement. "It could get you in trouble some day."

She gaped for a few moments before she caught herself, changing her expression into a glare. She noted his eyes were shinier than normal and his face seemed to be a little paler than it was the day before. She ignored it quickly, however. She bent down to retrieve Deidara's shirt before moving around Itachi.

"Do you _al_ways have to be such an annoyance, blondie?" Sakura hissed, dropping the shirt on the blonde's head. "Don't come to the table shirtless!"

Deidara pulled the clothing off of his head and set it on his lap before proceeding to eat. Sakura rolled her eyes and shook her head. She turned away from Deidara and made to move past Itachi.

"Why don't you test Itachi?" Sasori said suddenly, causing Sakura to freeze in her tracks.

Jade eyes slowly moved to gaze at the silent man who was now eyeing her. Quickly she averted her gaze to the floor.

"And why would I do _that_?" she scoffed. "I already have Deidara to compare to Kisame. That's all I need."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to test someone who is currently the strongest in Akatsuki?" Sasori queried. "And having more than one person to compare Kisame's results to makes any faults or differences stand out, correct?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could've sworn she saw Itachi's lips quirk, but she knew it was only because _her_ discomfort was practically tangible. Closing her eyes, she exhaled slowly. Sasori had a perfect point there, and now that it had been brought up, she couldn't turn it down.

'_Bastard wants payback for killing him..._'

She brought a hand up to rub her temple, trying to come up with a way to deny Itachi an exam that she didn't want to give. It was true that Itachi would be the perfect choice over Deidara. It was true that his power would be a great help in determining the problem. It was true she was ready to rip her hair out and she hadn't even been working for them for two complete days. With a heavy sigh she opened her eyes and raised her hand towards Itachi.

"Uchiha, let's get this over with," she muttered, gesturing for him to follow her.

"You aren't going to eat?" he asked, raising a brow.

Sakura looked at him over her shoulder.

"Not hungry and my chakra is leveled high enough so that I'll have plenty of extras when I done with you," she replied coldly.

"Hn."

"Let's go."

The two exited the kitchen and headed straight for the lab. Sakura entered first, barely holding the door long enough for Itachi to walk through. Sakura heard the door shut and she refused to lock it like she had with Deidara for fear of Itachi using it to his advantage.

'...Not that he'd actually _do_ anything to me...'

'_Che, who're we kidding? This _isItachi_ we're talking about._'

'Uchiha! U-Chi-Ha! No first name basis!'

'_He calls _us_ Sakura, ya'know._'

'Shut-up.'

"Alright, take off your shirt and hop on-_get_ _on_ the table," she instructed, correcting herself.

She moved from table to desk and pulled out the tools she'd need.

**"Take off your shirt and hop on the table for me, please," Sakura asked, adjusting her sleeves.**

**She turned around to move back towards the table just as Deidara hopped on.**

**Literally.**

**_Hopped_.**

**Sakura blinked.**

**'_You're _kidding_ me, right?_'**

**Just like a bunny.**

**Hop, twist, _plop_.**

**'Where did I go wrong?'**

Stethoscope secured around her neck and notebook with a pen in hand, Sakura moved to face Itachi, praying he would be _normal_ and simply sit on the table. He was already seated by the time she saw him, and her inner self stood gaping.

'_It should be illegal for a man to look like that!!_'

'Ninja. He's a _ninja_ for God's sake! Of _course_ he's going to look like that!'

"Something wrong?" Itachi asked, and Sakura saw the satisfied smirk on his face accompanied by the raise of one of his sculpted brows.

'_Beautifully feminine in some areas and sexily _masculine_ everywhere else._'

'Killed Kakashi, remember?'

"No, of course not. You just surprised me, that's all," she covered quickly and finished making her way towards him, noting that his smirk didn't leave.

'Bastard Uchiha...'

A shinobi -unless they were from Chouji's clan- was supposed to be in top condition. So their bodies were often muscled and toned to perfection. Usually, depending on how good a shinobi they were, scars would be present. That, or they had an excellent medic. So to have known on the most personal level what Kakashi looked like, Sakura was used to the scars and the new wounds she would heal without leaving a mark. The man was nowhere near as muscled as Asuma, rather he was toned but agile and still stronger than a normal man should be. Scars were part of his make-up before Sakura had even thought of him in a way more than friends did.

But Itachi? It's easy to put it this way. When you've got a prodigy -academy graduate at 7, Sharingan master at 8, chuunin at 10, and ANBU squad captain at 13- you expect them to have at least a few good scars boasting their most dangerous missions they had obviously survived. Unless they had Tsunade healing people at the time -which they _didn't_- or they had Shukaku -which they most _definitely_ didn't- then they should have at least a handful of markings.

Itachi Uchiha was hosting a single, **_single_**, scar.

It was about four and a half inches long and _barely_ even showed up. It was diagonal and right across his lower stomach, just below -and literally, just a hair's width below- his navel, right above the start of a few lines of faint colored hair...

"How...is that possible?" she whispered in awe.

Because it _wasn't._

"How is _what_ possible?" Itachi asked.

She set the notebook and pen down next to him. One hand wrapped around his side, fingers cool against his unusually warm flesh as she crouched down. Her other hand hovered above the beginning of the mark. Her pointer and middle fingers pressed against the line and slowly traced down, following the mark. She could feel his muscles rippling under her touch.

Why was she so interested in a simple scar? Did she even realize how close she was to him when she was doing that? Did she even realize what she was doing?

Without warning, her wrist was caught in his grip. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, but it was firm enough that she couldn't just shake him off. Pulled from her slight trance, she let out a startled gasp and her gaze shot up to meet his.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a hint of suspiciousness lacing his words.

She looked back down at the scar and suddenly realized what she actually had been doing. She stood abruptly and jerked her hands away from him, but only the hand holding his side came back to her. She looked down at his hand gripping her wrist and shot him a glare.

"You can let go now," she grumbled, attempting another jerk to release, but finding he wouldn't let go.

"Answer my question."

"You only have one scar. I expected you to have more," she replied, bringing her other hand up to try and force his fingers to loosen her wrist. "Now would you let go so I can get this over with?"

"Hn."

Her arm was released and she sent him another glare. She really, really, _really_, did _not_ like this man at _all_.

'_He's got a happy t-_'

'**Don't** finish that!'

"Let's get started, then, if you're quite through with holding me."

Itachi smirked.

"Of course. That is, if _you're_ quite through with _gawking_ at me."

"You've got nothing _gawk_-worthy," she retorted, bringing the ends of the stethoscope to her ears, a very light pink gracing her cheeks.

She opened the notebook to a new page and quickly titled it. She pressed the metal of the end of her tool to his chest on the left.

"Inhale slowly, exhale through your mouth," she instructed.

He did as he was told and Sakura wrote out what she heard. Moving it down, she asked him to repeat. Once he did, she wrote that down also. Moving to the other side of his chest, she repeated her instructions, moving it down and taking notes. Once she was finished with his front, she proceeded to his back, noting he didn't have _any_ scars there. Sitting down next to him where the notebook wasn't lying, she leaned back and pressed the end of the metal to him. He followed her instructions again and her notes remained the same. As far as breathing went, he seemed normal.

Removing the stethoscope, she slid off of the table and placed it down on the desk ahead of them. Snatching a timer, she returned to Itachi's side to check his pulse. She set the timer for one minute. She walked behind him, out of his view. Bringing her hand up, she let it hover near his neck.

"I'm checking your pulse, so don't think I'm trying to kill you," she explained tartly, pressing her fingers down against the underside of his jaw.

He didn't respond for a moment, but when he did, she glared at him again.

"You couldn't kill me anyway."

She felt the vibrations of his voice against her fingers but she ignored them, moving the tips around to find the beats. She made a small noise when she found his pulse. It was slow and relaxed. She didn't know whether or not she should feel glad he felt relaxed around her or if she should feel annoyed because he knew she wasn't a threat. She pressed the button on the timer and the clock began counting down from 60 seconds. His pulse remained relaxed for the first twenty seconds before suddenly, it started beating much faster.

In the ten seconds that happened, shock was written clearly across her face. It shouldn't be possible, even for someone who was taking in new air, to suddenly spike. At thirty seconds, he was at 107 beats. For a male who was 26, in a relaxed state, and a shinobi for his entire life, he should never have reached that number. But it relaxed once again, and became impossibly slow. Fifteen seconds passed and she was at 115 beats. Another fifteen seconds and the timer went off.

His complete bpm was 123.

That was _not_ healthy at all!

Her hand pulled away from him and snatched the notebook, writing down her newest results. Kisame should have had results like these! Not Itachi! What was wrong with Itachi? _He_ was the one who felt as if he had something else living inside of him. Kisame was...Deidara didn't seem _all_ that different...what was wrong with these Akatsuki guys?

She quickly brought the timer back to the desk, depositing the notebook there as well so Itachi wouldn't be able to see what she'd written. After that, she performed a few more tests. Bones, muscles, reflexes, spine, everything a normal doctor would look for in a physical. Well, everything above his navel and below mid-thigh, at least. She took notes according to each, noting how some things weren't normal and some matched up with Kisame, others matching with Deidara.

Finally it came time for blood samples.Needle, alcohol pad, and bottle ready, she wrapped up his upper arm, slowing the flow. Cleansing the area she would pierce and throwing away the pad, she attached the bottle to the needle and lined it up with a vein.

"This is the last thing," she explained, inserting the needle and untying the tie.

He flinched.

It was barely noticible, but he did. He actually flinched. Sakura's brows furrowed momentarily as she paid attention to the markings.

'Why would he react like that?'

Once the bottle was full, she pulled the needle out, cleaned the area again, and slid her finger over the small hole, healing it. Walking to the other set of bottles, she marked Itachi's 'Uchiha' and set it with the other containers, placing the needle in a jar of antiseptic solution.

"You can put your shirt back on and then I need to ask you a few questions regarding some things I need to continue my research," Sakura explained, moving to wash her hands.

After a rustle of fabric was heard, Sakura deemed it safe enough to turn around. Leaning against the edge of the counter, she eyed Itachi.

"For starters, I need access to the medical records of you, Deidara, and Kisame," she began. "Do you have those?"

Itachi nodded his head.

"Good. I also need any books you have on the demons and Isonade," she continued.

He raised a brow in curiosity.

"What for?"

"I don't know all that much about the demons, only what people in general know," she began. "Also, Isonade is higher up than the others, so information about him -he _is_ in Kisame, after all- is crucial in figuring out possible patterns and opinions, thoughts, tendencies, things of that nature, that Kisame may have inherited. It will help me figure out possible ways to connect him to Kisame and keep him from dominating Kisame and attempting to kill all of you," she explained.

He was silent for a few moments. She could tell he was thinking.

"Dominating Kisame?" he asked slowly, making eye contact with her.

Sakura nodded her head.

"Yes. He's a demon god. Demons are very powerful but demon _gods_ are even stronger."

There was something in his eyes that Sakura didn't like, and the slight smirk that graced his lips didn't help to comfort her, either.

"I should start getting on your good side, I suppose," he said, voice holding a hint of something Sakura was used to hearing from Kakashi.

'What does he mean by _that_?'

"Uh...huh..."

'Wait...he doesn't mean!!'

Her eyes widened in realization and he responded with a deep chuckle that sent shivers down her spine.

"All of those books are in here. I'll have the medical records sent down before dinner."

He was gone before she could say a word otherwise.

'_This is why we don't mess with Uchihas. They always come back to bite us in the ass!_'

"Baka!" she whispered angrily.

With a sigh she turned around and began to separate the blood samples. She took out three fresh slides for the microscope and found three eye-droppers as well. She opened Kisame's bottle first and extracted a few drops. Bringing the dropper over to the first slide, she allowed one drop to land on the slide before she placed a cover on it and put it under the first microscope. She labeled it with a 'K' to remember who it belonged to. She repeated the process with a fresh slide and dropper on a new microscope and labeled it 'D' for Deidara. The final one was labeled 'U' for -Uchiha- Itachi.

She found the notebook and flipped to Deidara's pages of notes, planning to examine his first. She put her eye close to look in the microscope, adjusting it so she could get a good look, and immediately saw that the coloring and shape of the red bloods cells was perfectly normal and that they were spread out. There were just a few white blood cells, nothing more than there should be in a single drop of blood. She marked these notes in the book and watched the blood for just a little bit longer, sketching out what she saw. It seemed perfectly normal so she turned off the microscope and flipped to Kisame's next page.

Readying that microscope, she focused it until she had a clear shot. The red blood cells were closer together than Deidara's and she made a note of that. She couldn't find any white blood cells wandering around and moved the focus to a different part of the sample, magnifying the view. She still found only red blood cells. Taking note of that, she drew a quick sketch. The red blood cells were a nearly equal blend of ovals and circles. Finishing the notes for Kisame, she turned off the micrscope and turned to Itachi's section.

Looking into the microscope for Itachi's blood, Sakura wasn't quite sure what she was seeing at first. She focused it but it only confused her more. With Kisame, his blood had been nearly the same color as Deidara's, just a little bit darker. He'd had no white blood cells while Deidara had the normal amount. As for Itachi? His blood wasn't the same color. No, not as Deidara and Kisame. The sample from only Itachi was two different colors. Part of it was a dark red while the rest was a very pale red. The colors blended and mixed, and that wasn't the only thing. The red blood cells were perfect circles. Not a single one was oval or mishapen. Perfect circles. And his white blood cells were all over the place.

"He's sick," she said in realization. "That's why his skin was so hot and his eyes looked glassy."

But that still didn't explain why his blood was two different colors and it didn't explain how the red blood cells could hold such a perfect shape. This was something she was expecting from Kisame, not Itachi. It didn't make sense!

'_And he's sick._'

Something wasn't right here. She pulled away from the microscope and wrote down her discovery before turning it off. She collected the slides and labeled them before placing them on a tray and bringing them over to the small fridge in the corner of the room. After she had them secured in there, she cleaned up the area with the blood and took the samples in the bottles back to the fridge until she needed them later after dinner.

For now, she needed to get some reading done. Heading over to the bookcases on the walls, she allowed herself a few moments to think about what she'd found that day.

1. Kisame and Deidara are more alike than Kisame and Itachi.

2. Kisame and Deidara are more alike than _Deidara_ and Itachi.

3. Kisame has no white blood cells. Deidara has a normal amount. Itachi has enough to prove he's infected or sick.

4. Kisame has normal blood color and shape. Deidara has normal blood color and shape. Itachi has two blood colors and perfectly shaped red blood cells.

5. Every symptom Itachi has, Kisame _should_ have.

In conclusion, something was seriously messed up.

'Maybe I labeled them wrong?'

'_We did Kisame's _this morning_. We did the Uchiha a few minutes ago. It's not possible._'

Sighing, Sakura began to look at the books she was given. The shelf she started with was strictly medical.

Anatomy.

Blood.

Infection.

Disease.

Lungs.

Heart.

Muscles.

Mental Disorders.

Cures and Treatments.

All the topics she would normally know about or be provided back in Konoha. Moving to the next bookcase, she found more medical books and was just about to change to the next one when a book caught her eye. It was a thin book no more than a quarter of an inch thick wedged between two large medical books. She reached up for it and pulled the top of it, loosening it until she pulled it out completely. The cover was hard and black with no title. She opened it up and saw the words she'd been looking for.

-_Japanese Mythology: Demon Gods_-

Flipping the page, she scanned the table of contents.

"I, I, I, Is_o_, Ison- ah! Page 39."

She switched to the page she'd found, sat herself down on the floor, and began to read.

-_Isonade: Water God_

_According to legend, Isonade is one of the nine tailed beasts, known as biju. He is one of five elemental gods that are a part of the biju title. He holds the sixth most powerful rank as a biju and is nearly 4,000 years old. He comes from the Land of Water._

_Isonade is a shark shaped biju with a sharp horn on his forehead. He has three tails and three fins, has a dark blue body color, and is attracted by blood._

_He lives in the deep waters of Matsuura, fighting pirates. Every few months, Isonade will swim to the surface of the sea from the deep waters to breath some fresh air. However, when he does this, storms erupt, oceans rage, and all ships will be swallowed by him as_-

Sakura flipped the page and began reading the back.

-_food. _

_Isonade has a subordinate fish called Samehada. Samehada attaches itself to Isonade's stomach, and absorbs its food to create huge amounts of chakra, proceeding to send it back to its body. Samehada's power can enable Isonade to get five times the quantity of chakra it could originally get. Therefore, when Isonade battles, he will have unlimited chakra to receive from Samehada._

_Just shy of 2,000 years ago, the very first Ancient War of the Nine Gods occurred. Of the four battles he took part in, Isonade won two times, lost once, and played a retreat once. He claimed victory over Kaku of the Earth, and Shukaku of the Wind. He was defeated by Nekomata and fled from Yamata_-

Sakura blinked.

"What happened to the next page?" she muttered, brows furrowing. "Yamata what?"

She thumbed through the rest of the book, unable to find the next page. Taking the back cover, she held it and shook it, thinking that maybe the page would fall out somewhere, but it didn't.

"What the?"

Her shinobi instincts kicked in. Why would a page be missing from a simple book about mythology? Granted, none of the books they'd provided looked new. Most of them looked like they'd been through quite a few owners before they arrived on the bookcases in her lab. Still, she wouldn't have been given inadequit research and resource materials by mistake. Her gut was telling her that the next page had deliberately been taken out.

'But _why_? Why would they pull something out of a book on mythology?'

"Maybe there's another mythology book with the same information in it," she suggested to herself.

Knock! Knock!

Sakura nearly jumped half a foot in the air. She got to her feet quickly and crammed the book between two random books on the closest shelf.

"C-Come in!"

The door opened and Kisame walked in. He looked like he was going to say something but he paused and studied her instead.

"Is everything...all right?"

Sakura nodded rapidly and presented him with a nervous smile.

"Of course! I was just about to start checking through the books," she said immediately.

He looked at her for a few more moments.

"You're jumpy," he pointed out.

"Uh, you just scared me, is all," she explained. "I mean, when I get into books, I_ really _get _into_ them, ya'know? So I was kinda _out there _and then I hear loud _thumping_ noises and- _whoo_!" she gushed, bringing a hand to wipe across her forehead.

He blinked and stared at her.

"Itachi was that bad, huh."

Sakura groaned, but was thankful he'd picked out Itachi as the source of her jumpiness.

"It's too confusing for me to understand so I'm not even going to try and explain it to anyone else," she evaded.

Sakura wasn't sure if she wanted to tell anyone what she'd discovered that day just yet. She would have to try and make up some fake reports and see if she could fool Itachi and stall him long enough to interpret the information she'd gathered without him finding out. If she listened to her gut, something was definitely wrong here. If she followed the facts, something was in_credibly_ wrong here. If she paid attention to those two combined...

She'd lay low for now. She wouldn't mention anything yet. She would leave her findings out of the picture and come up with something for Itachi when it came time. As far as the missing page went, she'd wait until she found some other books before pointing any fingers. Perhaps she'd go snooping later for a different library. There had to be one. She felt it in her gut.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Dealing with polar opposites is stressful."

Kisame chuckled and nodded his head.

"Deidara is a handful all on his own, but in your situation, I'd imagine Itachi by himself is a ride to hell, but together..."

He left it hanging there. Sakura understood him, however, and she was suddenly struck with a feeling in her chest she could remember getting when she was a very small child, back when she became friends with Ino. Trust, perhaps? Friendship, the beginnings of it anyway.

"Well, dinner's ready, and Itachi gave me the medical records you requested," he said, waving the files in his hand.

Sakura smiled, something she found fairly easy and found she didn't have to force. She walked around the table and over to Kisame, taking the offered files and placing them on the desk.

"Shall we go then?"

Kisame stood off to the side, holding the door open.

"Ladies first," he said with a grin, causing Sakura to quietly laugh.

"You know, I'm starting to think I was horribly wrong about you," she mumbled, walking past him and into the main hall.

She felt a sudden sharp pain that was gone as quickly as it came on the back of her head. She slapped a hand to the spot, rubbing it, and jerked her head at Kisame.

"What was that for?" she hissed jokingly, watching him grin.

"What was what for?" he replied innocently, shrugging slightly.

He moved ahead of her and Sakura's lips formed a smirk. With a jump, fingers ready, she connected them with the back of _his_ head, and flicked him. He spun around and saw her innocent look as she skipped ahead into the kitchen.

Friends.

That term seemed so comfortable when she thought about Kisame.

So comfortable, that for the moment, she forgot about that day's shocking discoveries.

* * *

So we get to the point where Sakura finds some clues indicating the lies of our favorite blonde and Sharingan master. Tried to get some funny points in but mainly this chapter was boring but informative. if you skipped reading things, read it, because you need to know a lot of this for future references. Kisame and Sakura are friendlier in a sense. And what's up with Itachi and Kisame?

Things are going much faster than planned, just to warn you guys. I wasn't expecting this chapter's happenings to actually take place for another dozen chapters or so, but if _I_ couldn't wait, I'm pretty sure you guys couldn't either. Things are speeding up. Next chapter? I don't know right now. Some more testing possibly. Some snooping and maybe some SakuraKisame.

Oh! Sakura and Itachi won't have all that much in a romantic sense just yet. I'm focusing on Kisame and Sakura first. Itachi might get a few touches or innuendos in, but I need to get everything set and Itachi normal again before he starts something with Sakura. Maybe some fighting next chapter, as well. Maybe some new characters? Perhaps a few flashbacks since I know I'm dying of Kakashi deprivation...

**Thanks to my wonderful reviewers! I love you guys for actually enjoying this story!**

**Chryseis Wyvernsen, Skitzoflame, Lady Light, GinaCat, Miakoda13, theoneandonlydarkpowderpuff, xXSakakiXx, xxxSethKisaraxxx, SweetAssassin, Hija Del Sucio, kaze mo, Marsgoddess1, Mizu-Rei, Unit Fox-Hound, kakashisninjadogs, luvzsasuke, Rhonda21, Heartless Ghost, Manipulated Insanity, aznmelon, MistressBlossom, krystleg777, Natsu Yukili, Riley Killer, InterwovenEmotions, SpeedDemon315, Theif of the Sand, egustogustason, winner-loser, passiveaggressive, sunastalker, AzNwitBra1Nz, Drackial, Maruken, sesshoumaru13.**

Hope to see you guys next chapter! Till later!

Backlash Symphony


	6. Arc 1: Multiple Personalities

Story Title: Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter Title: 6. Multiple Personalities

Chapter 6 of 11

Arc 1 of 4

Pairing: ItachiSakuraKisame

Rating: M (Swearing, Later chapters)

Author: Backlash Symphony

Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More epecifically, Kisame.ItaSakuKis

Disclaimer: I really hate saying this. Seriously. I don't own Naruto. Stop rubbing it in already!

Extra: Urm...lots of swearing at the end of the chapter in the flashback. I suppose you could say Sakura's OOC, but we all have our breaking points, and seriously, if I just found out my husband was killed by Akatsuki and the rest of his team remained unharmed, I'd flip out the same way. Hm...I want to see your reactions when you get to the very end. I'm saying there'll be roughly about five mroe chapters after this before I move on to the next arc. I feel kinda bad because I'm shoving all the good stuff in to the beginning arc and there's...well the big huge surprise for the characters is over. Then comes the fruit of all of my research...that is, if it's even going to go in the right direction... And for those of you who actually read this stuff, I respect you for dealing with my usually inane rambling.

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke: 20

Itachi, Kabuto: 26

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade: 58

Text means normal writing.

'Text' means thoughts.

_'Text'_ mean Inner Sakura's thoughts.

**Text** means flashback.

-_Text_- means something written.

* * *

Timeframe: One Week Later

* * *

-_anatomical defects that block the ostia, such as a deviated septum or nasal polyps, often suffer from chronic sin_- 

"Hey Sakura!"

Sakura nearly cried out in surprise. Slamming the book shut she spun around -as best as she could anyway. Laying on your stomach doesn't mean instant flexibility- to fix a glare at her intruder.

Kisame took a step back before clearing his throat.

"Lunch is ready, in case you want to join us this time," he offered with a grin.

Sakura sighed but Kisame caught the smile that was pulling at the corner of her mouth.

...A mouth composed of two full light pink lips...

She finally did smile, thought it was a small one.

...But those lips were so ki-

"Yeah, I guess I'll go," she agreed, dog-earring the page she was on in her book and shutting it, rising and setting it down on the table closest to her.

She walked over to Kisame, noting suddenly how awkwardly he was staring at her. Hesitantly placing her hand over his and gently shaking it, she looked at him with concern.

"Hey, you alright?" she asked quietly.

He was jolted from his trance and he stuttered a response out before turning to leave.

"Y-Yeah, just thought of something. Don't worry," he assured her.

Sakura nodded but inside she didn't buy it. With a slight shrug, she followed him out of the lab and into the kitchen where, as usual, the rest of the Akatsuki were seated.

'Seriously, I don't get those guys at all.'

"Are you all on break or something? Is that why none of you have gone on any missions in the past week and a half?" Sakura asked in minor annoyance.

"You could call it that...yeah," Deidara responded cheerfully.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

'Would it kill the guy to actually be depressed for once?'

'_Probably._'

'Yeah. Baka's got too much energy.'

'_AND we haven't even trained in over two weeks!_'

Sakura blinked at the thought. Her inner self had a very good point. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd trained or practiced. Most likely since before Kakashi's death.

Sakura took a look at Itachi and was reminded from his almost unhealthy appearance that he was sick, or infected. She glanced at Kisame who had seated himself in his usual spot at the far end of the table near the sink. He'd acted strangely when he came to get her for lunch. The medic in her kicked up and she moved towards the fridge, planning on downing a glass of juice before she asked for any favors or checked any temperatures.

Rummaging through the shelves, she found the bottle of grape juice she'd wanted, still half full. Grinning, she pulled it out of the fridge and took a glass from the cupboard, filling it up and placing the juice back in the fridge. She took a sip, the sweet thick flavor sticking to her tongue and throat. She'd go back later and find something to eat. She took another sip before setting the glass down and interlocking her fingers over her stomach.

"Uchiha?" she asked innocently, looking up at him.

The Sharingan user raised a brow in response and Sakura continued.

"As fun as it is to sit all day reading outdated medical books and testing you guys," she began, "I still need to be able to train to keep my chakra levels and medical skills top notch."

She watched as Itachi seemed to think about her not-so-subtle request. He went back to eating in his normal slow method, and Sakura actually thought he'd chosen to ignore her. She opened her mouth to ask him straight out but he answered before she could get the chance to say anything.

"Don't try to escape," he said quietly, eyes still on his breakfast.

"Thanks," she said before grabbing her glass and downing the rest of it.

Quickly rinsing it in the sink, she put it on the drying rack and looked out the window above the sink before turning to face Kisame.

"How do I get outside?" she asked.

Kisame pointed to the only other door she hadn't used on that floor which was on the other side of the kitchen.

"Thanks," she said again, and made to move towards it but paused, looking back at Itachi, then at Kisame.

Stepping back, she lifted her hand up and pressed it against his forehead, causing him to tense. Itachi watched her. Sakura giggled softly.

"You'd better not be getting sick on me," she said lightly, though her gaze was completely on Itachi.

He narrowed his eyes at her. She brought her hand back to her side and walked toward the door, leaving the kitchen only to enter another hall, though this one had no more doors, just a turn to the left. Taking the turn brought her to a single door and she opened it, finally stepping outside for the first time since her fight with Kisame. She sighed peacefully as the cool breeze brushed against her skin.

She decided she would take a few minutes to explore first and then train since she knew exactly what she wanted to work on.

She knew first off that the view from the kitchen was yet another genjutsu. From where she was, she could see a large fence blocking the field in. There were a few trees randomly placed and all the way off towards the other end of the complex, there appeared to be bleachers, or some sort of seating arrangement similar to bleachers. Sakura decided to move near the trees closest to her, and from her view she could see Kisame, and Deidara sitting across from him. She allowed a smile to grace her lips.

Kisame and Deidara didn't deserve to be a part of the Akatsuki organization. She could understand the killing sprees. It came with the job description. But they were so nice to her, and not just to her, but normally. And Kisame was the most respectful of them all. He'd respected _Kakashi_ and he'd known him from what she knew specifically to be one meeting where he only focused his attention on Asuma. He was so polite and he treated her like women are supposed to be treated. Plus, he had a great sense of humor and wouldn't yell at her 'childish antics' whenever she threatened Deidara or got to the point of pummeling him.

No, Kisame was different, and the more she talked with him, listened to him, the more she wanted to know what could possibly drive a man like him to join such a terrible place as the one she was currently a part of.

But that was something to be saved and discussed later. Now, she had to train and work on her two new jutsus. They were nearly complete. At least she _thought_ they _both_ were. When she'd had that 'fight' with Itachi before she fought Kisame, she'd tried using it, but she _felt_ something go wrong, yet Itachi was still fooled by her clone. So maybe that technique _was_ finished.

Basically, she had taken the Kage Bunshin technique and made it into an attack specific to fighting anyone from the Uchiha clan. It literally took the body, made an identical clone, and then split each body, the fake and the real one, into halves, then traded with each other. In the end, you had two Sakuras, each half solid and half see-through, according to Sharingan standards.

She'd been wary of making it for fear that it would rip the body in half unevenly and someone would die. Or the clone halves wouldn't get enough chakra to last long enough and the halves that were the real deal wouldn't move back together. There were hundreds of 'what ifs' floating around but Sakura finally figured out a way to make it work.

But Itachi hadn't even noticed _half_ of her wasn't there. He hadn't noticed anything. He'd thought she'd used a replacement technique. That's what didn't make sense.

"Oh well. I'll just get to work on the other one, then."

But as she started stretching, she realized Itachi had also been acting strangely this morning. He hadn't said much to her and she'd been expecting some sort of hint or flat out punishment of torture if she tried anything. But he'd remained mostly silent, and even when he had spoken to her he was quiet.

'It's like he's not even himself sometimes.'

And that statement was true, too. Most of the time Itachi was sadistic and in a perverted way, she supposed would be the best way to describe it. He was talking more than Sasuke ever had and his 'cold behavior' was melted by his fiery temper. From what she remembered from her first experience with him, his anger didn't last all that long, and the way he was touching her -interpreting it could swing multiple ways with results- didn't seem to entirely match his emotions. Yes, he was rough with her, but those kinds of touches weren't neccessary. He could've hit her, slapped her, done something else other than touch her neck and press against certain points medicaly proven to have a desired effect in sexual encounters.

It had died so quickly. And before that he had seemed like the guy she had always imagined him to be from the rumors. But the next day? That fight seemed to be the same with him. The same behavior. Even when she woke up, he was the same. But suddenly, when she arrived back from her first testing session with Kisame, he'd seemed so...different, just like the sudden anger she hadn't know the Great Itachi Uchiha could possess. And from that point up until breakfast that morning, he'd been the 'Other Uchiha'. He hadn't been the same the entire time she'd know him. His expressions and personality seemed to switch occasionally and she didn't understand why.

'Coupled with the blood and his heartbeat, I don't even think there's a medical definition for this.'

After a few more minutes of stretching, she began focusing chakra and formed the seals to make a handful of clones. Five Sakuras appeared in a circle around her and with a nod of the original Sakura's head, they all ran around the field, spreading out into certain points to make a large circle. Sakura walked into the center of the circle and spread her legs shoulder width apart. Her eyes slid shut and she forced her body to relax.

Taking in a deep breath, she slowly pushed chakra into a layer over her body. This jutsu required absolute concentration, and the utmost perfection of chakra control. _She_ knew she'd have a hard time mastering the technique once she'd realized the complexity of the seemingly simple instructions. Gathering more chakra to cover her body, she slowly, oh so slowly, began to glow blue. She pushed against it, forcing the chakra away from her body.

At this point in time, she raised her arms up until they were straight out, moving her hands to stand straight as well. Feeding more chakra into the layer, it began to expand. Sakura opened her eyes and saw the blue in front of her, hovering a few inches above her face, but she didn't dare move until she had the full globe created. Using a larger amount of chakra, the outline moved farther away from her, and she continued to add more and more chakra. She could see it forming a curve in front of her and she could feel it curving around her.

She paused with her normal chakra and began to lace her healing chakra into the bubble until she felt something click. She was entirely surrounded by a chakra shield composed of shimmering green and blue chakra. She grinned a wide grin and then gestured to her clones. Each one performed the same set of seals and more Sakura clones appeared. They did this again and again until the entire field was full of them. They charged at the real Sakura, each making different attacks she had developed to create a lot of damage.

What she loved about this technique? All it required was chakra. There were no words to call out or seals to form. It was just chakra, and even better than that? Once she felt that 'click', she no longer had to expel chakra to support the shield. It stayed as long as it could stand. The attacks couldn't just break through the barrier, either. After a certain amount of damage, it would shrink some, and the damage level would increase. Sakura would have a full layer of chakra armor, in a sense.

That, and only people with more than exceptional and perfect chakra control could perform it.

The only drawback was that it took at least five or ten minutes to make the barrier, and in that time she needed complete concentration.

Her clones all came at her and the first ring hit her shield and disappeared in clouds of smoke.

Another great thing about this barrier? Sakura could move around inside and get as close to the edge as she wanted, even leave the barrier and it would follow her around like a puppy. It'd reject anyone else who tried to get in.

Row after row of Sakura clones attacked the original, and even after the entire clone population had finished attacking, Sakura's barrier had been reduced to the second level. The clones were gone, and Sakura pulled all the chakra she didn't use back into her body. With a shaky sigh, she lifted a hand up to wipe away the sweat that had gathered at her brow. She barely even noticed the presence approaching her from behind.

"Sakura."

The girl froze, tensing immediately at the familiar -yet definitely unwanted- voice.

"What do you want, Uchiha?" she asked somewhat irritably.

She heard him chuckle, and her eyes widened.

'_Shit._'

'What happened to his behavior earlier!'

She made a move to face him but arms were suddenly encircling her. Arms were holding her tightly against a body she'd be no stranger to now. She tensed even more when she felt his breath on her ear.

"Is this really so much of a shock to you?" he spoke, nose grazing her neck. "So much of a shock, that you won't even fight back?"

She couldn't bring herself to move more than a jerk to the side, finding his grip on her tighter than she'd thought.

"I could do much worse to you," he whispered in her ear, and one of his hands drifted lower on her stomach, "yet your fight is pitiful."

Suddenly, one of her hands was holding his wrist, yet it wasn't one of the hands on the body he was holding. He was struck with a sense of deja vu, but was quick to realize this had happened before. Her body molded against his back and her free hand clenched his bicep.

'Just like the fight,' he thought, annoyed.

'_He did it again!_'

"If it's a fight you want, forget it, Uchiha," she hissed.

'What the hell is wrong with him? He didn't see it again!'

The Sakura in his hold disappeared with a poof and Sakura felt the tingling of the return of her other half. Something was up.

"I love how you never raise a weapon to me," he said with a smirk. "At least, never in time."

"Keep talking to me like that and I'll cut off all usage of your arm for a week," she threatened.

She felt the vibrations of his laughter. She nearly let go of him but reinforced her grip immediately.

"How do you know I won't enjoy that?" he asked.

She glared at the back of his head.

"How do you know I won't enjoy punishing you after?"

Emerald eyes widened and her hands dropped immediately, but not because of the obvious threat he had laid out for her, but because of the mix of fear and shock his words were meant to create. Taking a stumbled step back, she suddenly found her body pinned to something incredibly hard and rough in texture.

With two red eyes staring her down, filled with amusement and disgust.

Her breakthing became panicked and she found she couldn't even muster enough strength to calm her fear, let alone calm her pounding heart. What was he doing? Why was he...

'_What the hell does he think we are! Some damn whore he can just lay his hands on!_'

She couldn't make any words come out of her mouth and Inner Sakura was screaming and swearing up a storm inside her head. She couldn't move. She was terrified.

His hands were holding her hips.

He was standing between her legs.

He was so close.

'_Get OFF! GET HIM OFF!_'

But she couldn't move. Fear was all she could think.

Feel.

See.

_See_. She was looking at the ultimate creature of inflicted pain and terror.

She was shaking. She didn't know why. It wasn't from fear, that at least. But fingers were brushing against her cheek.

Amusement.

Digust.

...Jealousy?

"I can see why Hatake was interested in you."

'_GODDAMNIT SNAP OUT OF IT!_'

And at Kakashi's last name, she did.

Her brows turned down and she set perhaps the deadliest of all glares at him.

"**Get off of me!**" she yelled.

"Fiesty, intelligent, looks; everything he wanted when he was younger but denied himself the pleasure of having."

And he was gone. Gone as quickly as she found herself pinned.

Always gone.

She hadn't even realized she'd slid down the tree she was pinned to until Kisame and Deidara were suddenly in her face, asking her if she was all right, trying to help her stand. She vaguely remembered Deidara running off to go get something, or was it Kisame who had ordered him to leave them alone? She couldn't remember. For now, she was sitting against the wall near the kitchen window with Kisame crouched down in front of her.

"Hey, Sakura," he said, shaking her to bring her back. "Sakura!"

She couldn't do much other than stare at the grass for a few moments. Why had she been so effected by Itachi. Hell, the last time this happened -the closest incident, actually- she was still a genin. What had actually _happened_ with him? She didn't know. She couldn't think straight.

Itachi.

Itachi was different, again.

Itachi was touching her, breathing, pinning her...

Deidara...and Kisame.

Kisame...why would he care?

Why would he be there?

Why would he leave to be there and suffer so much?

"Kisame," she whispered, "why are you in so much pain?"

"What?" his tone was shocked.

"You're in so much pain here. Why?" she asked again. "Why...what would make such a wonderful person like you join a place like this? What...made you _suffer_..._so much_...?"

She looked up at him and found the strength to move. She sat up, supporting herself, and got to her knees. Moving closer to him, she sat down on her heels, and looked up at him with nothing but the most genuine concern anyone would see.

"Why? What could drive _you_ to such lengths?"

Silence. Pure, deadly silence. No breeze. No insects. No sounds or noises. Nothing. Nothing but silence.

Beady black eyes are simply that; beady. Hardly big enough to see emotion in. But Sakura could see it. Sakura could see the pain in his eyes. She could feel the grief and sorrow radiating off of him. Cocking his head to the side, he regarded her, once again, in silence.

Her exotic pink hair framed her pale face, accentuating the curves of her cheeks and the dazzling deep green of her eyes. She was beautiful, and she wasn't afraid of him. She was as perfect as any woman could get, and she looked at him without a trace of disgust on her face.

She cared.

She was composed of concern and desperation at that moment, and Kisame found that seeing her own pain from the lack of knowledge pertaining to his made him feel almost guilty.

"It's not something discussing will help. What's done is done," he said gruffly, trying to act like he didn't want to say anything.

As he began to straighten, he suddenly found himself down on his knees, pulled forward...

And held by Sakura.

"What do you think you're doing?" he growled.

She was hugging him.

"Tell me," she whispered, holding him tighter.

She felt him sigh against her before one of his hands hesitantly patted her back.

"A hug won't make me talk, either."

He pushed away from her, sad smile ghosting his lips, and walked away, leaving her sitting with tears in her eyes.

Tears brought upon by someone she barely knew's unexplained suffering.

And not once did he look at her.

Sakura spent the rest of the day in the lab, forcing herself to focus and read through the other mythology books she had been provided with. Deidara had called ehr for dinner but she had declined despite her stomach's grumble of protest she knew he could hear. He never said a word.

More hours passed by until it was nearly 8PM and she felt absolutely exhausted. Putting the books away, she trudged to her room, thoughts revolving around Kisame and Isonade. She barely managed to change into her usual nightware of shorts and a tank top before she fell onto her bed, asleep the moment she hit it.

* * *

**"Captain, the Hokage requests your presence," an ANBU with a turtle mask on said to the groggy pink haired woman.**

**Sakura raised a brow slightly, still rubbing her eyes to dismiss the sleepiness refusing to go away.**

**"I'm not on duty," she corrected with a small smile, stretching.**

**"It's urgent, she said."**

**Sakura's brows furrowed and she lowered her arms to her sides. What was with his strange behavior? He should know better than to call her Captain outside of ANBU coverage.**

**'And why would Tsunade send an ANBU messenger? What's going on?'**

**"Captain?"**

**"Er, yeah, I'm going," she muttered, quickly running her hands through her hair and smoothing out her shorts and tank top.**

**Performing a few hand seals, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke only to reappear moments later outside the Fifth's office door. She could hear a muffled discussion on the other side of the door. Raising a hand, she sighed and knocked.**

**"Come in, Sakura," Tsunade called out -was that grief in her voice?**

**Sakura hesitantly opened the door and slid in between the crack. Shutting the door behind her, she allowed her eyes to widen at the other people in the room.**

**Fully dressed, while she was in her sleepware.**

**'Heh, Kakashi's going to _love_ this.'**

**But when she noticed just who, specifically, those other people were, her brows bunched again.**

**"Where's Kakashi?" Sakura asked sharply with a hint of confusion, eyes scanning the men in the room for silver hair.**

**'Silver, silver, Kakashi, where are you?'**

**"Sakura..."**

**The young woman turned her attention to her ex-sensei, taking a step forward.**

**"Where is he, Tsunade?" Sakura repeated almost angrily, hands fisting.**

**Tsunade sucked in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. Her eyes were gazing at her desk and Sakura realized the bottoms of her eyes were red in the way someone's become when they cry. She seemed to be in her usual 'bad news' position, fingers steepled over her mouth.**

**And Sakura still didn't get it completely.**

**"Tsunade?" Sakura asked, voice gaining a desperate tone. "Tsunade?" her shoulders sagged a little and her fingers loosened.**

**Emerald eyes looked hopefully at the blonde, but still she didn't receive a comforting glance, and Sakura _finally_ got the hint. Her heart stopped for a second longer than it should have, eyes widening. She started to slowly shake her head.**

**"Oh, no, Tsunade, don't tell me..." her voice was entirely desperate now. "Tsunade...he...came back, right?" she didn't get a response. "Right!"**

**And Tsunade's honey eyes slid upward in a quick motion and caught Sakura's gaze, causing the younger female to freeze in shock at the pain and numerous apologies held in those eyes of hers.**

**"N...no..." she was shaking her head harshly now. "Oh God, no! Tsunade! You s-said it was a _B_-Rank mission! B-B! How could he- how could _you_- how did it ha- oh, God!" she cried out, voice cracking.**

**She stomped forward, slamming her hands down angrily on Tsunade's desk.**

**"You said it was B-Rank!" she stuttered, gasping in deep breaths. "What happened! How did he die!"**

**"Akatsuki interference," the hokage finally said in a soft voice.**

**Sakura looked incredulous and tears were barely held back.**

**"Akatsuki! Fucking red cloud black robe Akatsuki inter_fer_ence!" she cried. "You expect me to believe that fucking bullshit? Akatsuki!"**

**"Sakura, you should sit dow-"**

**"Shut the fuck up Genma!" she screeched, not even bothering to turn to tell it was he who had spoken. "You honestly expect me to believe that Kakashi and his team were interfered by the fucking Akatsuki, he was killed, and the rest of his team arrived back to Konoha safe and without a fucking scratch? You honestly expect me to believe that bullshit!"**

**"Sakura-"**

**She spun around to face Genma, tears sliding over her now pale cheeks.**

**"Shut _up_ Genma! You!" she hit his shoulder hard, causing him to stagger back with the force. "You were his _best friend_! Where were you when he was fighting, huh? Where were you when he was killed! Huh!"**

**Genma grabbed her wrist when her hand hit his shoulder again and roughly jerked her forward, holding her against him tightly. She struggled at first, screaming more profanities at him and trying to hit certain pressure points that would make him crumple to the ground, but she couldn't. All of her strength was suddenly leaving her, suddenly disappearing.**

**Kakashi was gone. He was killed by the most dangerous and powerful organization in the world. She couldn't even be there to help him, to save him, to hear his last words. All she had now was the memory of being told of his death. Was she destined to lose all the men she loved in such cruel ways? Did fate hate her so fucking much that it had to make her life a living hell?**

**And she was crying. She was grasping Genma's ANBU vest like a lifeline and letting her body tremble with uncontrolled sobs.**

**This wasn't happening. This _wasn't happening_! It couldn't be! He had said so himself, he'd always be there for her. He'd told her that -he'd _promised_ her that- they would try to have a child once he returned from his mission. And there was no chance of having that baby, now. Kakashi, her only Kakashi, was forever gone.**

**But who? Who was responsible? And why hadn't the rest of the team been killed, too?**

**Stifling her sobs for a few moments, Sakura managed to bite out that question, and the response she received made her heart sink.**

**"Itachi Uchiha."**

* * *

The pink haired medic shot up in bed, gasping for breath. She drew a hand to her chest, pressing down against her pounding heart. Her body was shiny with a thin sheen of sweat and was shaking ever so slightly. 

She couldn't remember the last time she'd dreamt about Kakashi's death. If anything, she would've had the dream the first night she found out she had played right into Itachi's hand. Why had it taken just about a week later to have the dream?

Bringing her hands to her face, she rubbed her eyes, knowing she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep for a while, possibly not at all, and slid her fingers into her hair, smoothing it out as best she could. Kicking the sheets away, she got off of the bed and stumbled her first few steps.

A glance out the window told her it was about two in the morning, nearly three.

Once she regained her balance, she was on her way to the door, exiting her room and heading down the hall. It was amazing how quickly she'd learned her way around the building, even if she only had to learn how to get to the lab, get to the kitchen, and as of that day, get to the training field, and back up to her room again.

Taking a quick turn, she brought her arms behind her back, clasping her fingers, and arching her back until she heard a crack. Sighing in relief, she moved her body back to normal. she would go to the kitchen, grab a glass of water or juice, and if the drink didn't make her sleepy, she'd go outside and train for a little while. That should tire her ou-

Silver hair.

Jade eyes widened and Sakura's mouth nearly dropped open.

No, no, no, she was hallucinating.

"K...Kakashi?" she whispered in shock, mouth curving into a smile as she took a step forward.

Kakashi turned around and looked at Sakura.

Her smile fell.

Kakashi didn't have glasses.

* * *

And here's chapter 6! I got it out pretty fast, actually, but it's so short, and it doesn't make a whole bunch of sense, I'm sure.

So you guys kind of have a bit of KisameSakura in this chapter, and a little more of ItachiSakura, if you even want to count it as part of it. Hmm...I'll try to get Deidara back on track next chapter, but I won't make any promises. According to the new plans I've made for the outline, my promise of very little ItachiSakura is completely shot, though technically...yeah, that's right.

Next chapter will also be kinda Itachi-Centric in all of Sakura's activities. I think there's only one scene when Sakura's by herself. So yeah.

**Thanks once again to my incredible reviewers! You make my writing experience so much better!**

**SpeedDemon315, xXnarutofan-22Xx, egustogustason, Rachel, MagenKyotenChiten, honey I just wanna hear you, Miakoda13, sesshoumaru13, Rhonda21, AriaOfChaos, xXSakakiXx, Lady Light, mickeyboo06, Serenity Fey, kakashisninjadogs, Heartless Ghost, Manipulated Insanity, Siy, krystleg777, jenfrog, Hatake-Kakashi x3, Riley Killer, Chryseis Wyvernsen, Skitzoflame, SweetAssassin, Kisshi-chan, MistressBlossom, Gabriel**

Alrighty then, I think that's all for this chapter. Thanks again to my reviewers! Hope to see you all next chapter! Till later!

Backlash Symphony


	7. Arc 1: Black Out

Story Title: Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter Title: 7. Black Out

Chapter 7 of 11

Arc 1 of 4

Pairing: ItachiSakuraKisame

Rating: M (Swearing, Later chapters)

Author: Backlash Symphony

Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More epecifically, Kisame.ItaSakuKis

Disclaimer: I really hate saying this. Seriously. I don't own Naruto. Stop rubbing it in already!

Extra: Yeah, Kabuto was in last chapter. Erm, I didn't really expect so many people to freak out, but then again I was still forgetting that I'm the author, not you guys, so...yeah. Maybe you'll figure a little more out with this chapter, maybe not, but just a reminder it's mostly about Itachi. At least I hope it turns out that way (I write this stuff before I write the chapter, just so you know). Enjoy!

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke: 20

Itachi, Kabuto: 26

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade: 58

Text means normal writing.

'Text' means thoughts.

_'Text' _mean Inner Sakura's thoughts.

**Text** means flashback.

-_Text_- means something written.

* * *

"You're not Kakashi," Sakura whispered in horror. 

The man grinned pleasantly at Sakura.

"I always knew you were smart," he teased with a laugh.

Sakua felt her adrenaline rushing through her veins.

"Kabuto..."

"Yes, Sakura, you're just the girl I was looking for."

Kabuto...?

'What the hell is he doing here?!'

Kabuto was associated with Sasuke and Orochimaru. Sasuke was hellbent on murdering Itachi. Wait, where was Itachi? And Sasuke? Why was Kabuto there!

'Wait...he was looking for me?'

'It's a trap! What would he want with us?!'

Her inner self was right. What would he want with her? No, how would he even know she was there? If anything, she had stumbled out entirely by coincidence and he was stalling her while Sasuke fought Itachi. But she didn't hear any sounds indicating a battle, nor did she feel the suffocating amounts of excessive chakra being used.

That didn't mean she was safe, however. This was Kabuto she was dealing with, after all.

'I'll play it cool for now...'

'Just make a run for it!'

Sakura forced herself to remain calm until she figured out a plan. Most likely she would end up hauling ass in order to get away from the other medic, but she'd worry abotu that when it happened. She might be able to make enough noise to draw someone's attention-not that it woudn't make her pride take a huge blow to have to rely on S-Class criminals.

Her final resort might be to fight, though with her current mental status and medical abilities, she wasn't too sure how well the fight would turn out. She didn't have a guarantee he would go easy on her like Kisame did.

She took a cautious step forward, regarding Kabuto warily, hoping she'd be able to spot him drawing a weapon soon enough to make a defensive counterattack.

'Shit! We don't have any weapons!'

'Worry about it later!'

"Why were you looking for me?" she began, cutting straight to the point. "It's not like I'm exceptionally strong or possess some freakish bloodline limit."

"My, my, you've grown up," he evaded, beginning to move towards her.

Sakura stood her ground. She was not going to run. She was a medic, yes, but she was also a_ kunoichi_, and _kunoichi_ did **not** run away in the face of danger.

"So I've been told," she agreed curtly, iciness lacing her words. "What brings the snake bastard's slave to the Akatsuki hideout? Planning to kidnap more little kids?"

He sucked in a mock breath before chuckling, still closing in on her.

"Now, now, Sakura," he scolded playfully, "no need to harass a genius."

He was right in front of her now, still towering over her in the same way he did back when she was trying out for the chuunin exam all those years ago.

"Besides," he leaned forward so his lips were next to her ear, "he's only _interested_ in them when they're _older_."

The tone he had used made Sakura's blood run cold. He was too close, far too close for comfort, and his voice was igniting the flight part of her. Screw fighting. She had to find someone to help find Itachi.

Her hands were pressed against his chest in a second, chakra pushing into them. With a shove, he fell backwards, and Sakura rocketed off down the hallway, refusing to look back.

She wasn't searching for Itachi with the hopes of saving him or seeing Sasuke. She still wished to be the one to kill him, not that she'd ever get the chance to. No, if Kabuto was looking for her, or so he said, then that meant he had to have known she was there, something no one else did.

Something may have gone wrong. Orochimaru may have been unable to get into Sasuke's body, or there were side effects with the jutsu that he never experienced before.

Or Kabuto had been searching for something. Why else would he be snooping around in a hallway at who knows what time in the morning? Maybe there was more to this than what met the eye?

'It would be helpful,' she turned a corner, speeding up, 'to know where the bastard Uchiha's room was!'

'Or at least Kisame's!'

But as Sakura continued running, she suddenly felt a spike of chakra coming from straight ahead of her.

"Shit!" she swore, sprinting off towards the staircase.

She hopped down the steps three at a time and landed with a loud thump at the first floor before she took off towards the kitchen. She couldn't hear anyone behind her, nor could she sense Kabuto's chakra moving away from the spot she had left him standing in the hallway. If she _had_ interupted him, then perhaps he had already arrived at his destination and she was only stopping him from entering. What if Itachi was actually up there?

'No, he couldn't be, or I would've noticed before, right?'

She turned into the kitchen and raced down the winding halls until she reached the door that would lead out into the training grounds. As her hand molded around the doorknob, she prayed she wasn't too late to stop the fight that was most likely occuring just a few feet away. She wasn't finished with Itachi yet, and she'd be damned if she let Sasuke kill the bastard off without allowing her at least one fatal hit. But as the door flew open, and Sakura stumbled out of the building, everything going through Sakura's mind came to a halt.

Her eyes grew large, mouth dropping open slightly.

'_What the hell is he doing?!_'

'Oh...my...'

"Sasuke...what?" Her eyes traveled from the man she had once loved in all of his matured and still -she shouldn't admit it- sexy presence sitting beside the man who she'd always hate for taking her husband, Itachi.

_Sitting_.

Two pairs of crimson eyes looked up at her and Sakura found she couldn't move a muscle. Was she seeing things correctly? Sasuke and Itachi being civil, Sasuke _not_ trying to rip Itachi's heart out of his chest? Was this a genjutsu or had someone given her drugs earlier?

Sasuke's eyes slowly traced up and down Sakura's pj-clad form, taking in her tan skin and toned body. He would admit she'd matured well _physically_, and he could feel the increase in chakra her body could store. Her face was no longer round but sharper and more chiseled. Her chin was still slightly rounded and her cheeks were flat and smoothed up to the line of bone that rested inches beneath her captivating beryl eyes and exotic pastel hair.

She took an awkward step forward, continuing to glance between both men who had yet to move to their feet.

"What's going on?" she asked in disbelief, staring at Sasuke.

He didn't respond.

"Uchiha?" she turned her gaze onto Itachi.

'What the hell is going on here?'

From the corner of her eye, she could see Sasuke's brow crease at her name for his brother, and could vaguely make out the lingering disgust and hatred buried behind his black eyes. Itachi gave her the same silent response, merely standing, Sasuke following suit.

"Uchiha, I'm talking to you!" Sakura said annoyed.

"Still annoying..." Sasuke muttered, dusting himself off.

Sakura snapped her attention to her ex-teammate, glaring at him. He was still attractive physically, but he was as much of an ass as ever. Granted, she'd never say she hated him entirely because she still loved him, even if it _was_ only a very **very** small part of her. You know the saying; you always love the one you first fell in love with. And Sasuke had been that first love. He was no Kakashi, but that small part of her cried out for him.

"Lovely to see you, too, Sasuke," she said bitterly.

"Hn."

"Nice to know you haven't added any new words to your vocabulary," she retorted, remembering how she had used some similar comment when she was talking with Itachi a few days before.

Sasuke refrained from making any noises or replying, opting to glare at her instead.

'Ah, yes, the good ol' Uchiha glare.'

'_That bastard! What the hell is going on?!_'

'Oh yeah!'

"So is anyone going to answer me or am I going to have to wake someone else up?"

"That _won't_ be necessary, Sakura, I can assure you everything has been taken care of."

Sakura froze momentarily before she spun around. Silver hair moved into her vision and her eyes narrowed.

"You again!" she hissed.

He tossed her his famous innocent grin -she didn't buy it, of course- and stepped toward her.

"You so much as _touch__me_..." she left the threat hanging, emphasizing the lack of words with a lighting of blue chakra over her left hand.

"Now, now, don't be so violent," Kabuto chided. "We're all adults here. Let's settle this th-"

He barely dodged a dripping senbon needle aimed for his head, hand gripping a kunai in time to put himself in a defensive position.

"Don't make me _laugh_," Sakura growled. "Tell me what's going on here!"

No one said a word and no one pulled out a weapon. The Uchihas glanced at each other before Itachi gestured to Kabuto with a wave of his hand, at which Kabuto nodded. He returned his kunai to the pouch at his side and settled Sakura with an even stare. She glared at him.

"Sasuke not wanting to rip Uchiha to pieces and Uchiha not tossing insults at his brother screams 'unbelievable', so start explaining."

"I'm afraid that will have to wait until a later time, Sakura," Kabuto said with a shrug. "Sasuke and I need to be going."

"Hey! I'm not done with yo-"

Kabuto had already turned to smoke before she had finished her sentence, and she heard the poof behind her. A slight crunching indicated someone walking towards her, and she turned to see Itachi moving closer to her. The memories -they weren't really, just more like a dream at the speed and randomness of what had happened- from earlier surfaced slightly and she took a step back only to have him walk _right past her!_

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" she cried, jogging after him.

He didn't reply, only moved into the complex, through the kitchen, and up the stairs, a questioning Sakura right behind him. They were nearing her room by the time she got sick of him and reached out, slapping her hand across the back of his head.

Now wasn't _that_ a smart idea??

She instantly found herself pinned against the wall, hands held above her head by her wrists, two furious crimson eyes staring down at her.

Alright, well it _seemed_ like a smart idea be_fore_.

"It doesn't concern you what happens here unless someone is bleeding or injured," he spoke in a low tone. "You shouldn't have been out of your room, and you should've gone right back there when you saw Kabuto."

Sakura struggled, moving around as best as she could between his body and the wall. She glared at him.

"Do you even realize how _stupid_ you sound?" she insulted, tugging at her arms. "Sasuke wanted to _kill you_. _Kabuto_ works for _Orochimaru._ Ya'know, the guy that ditched you guys for his own selfish reasons, mainly because he wanted _you_ and couldn't have you? What reason would a _traitor_ of the traitors have to be _amongst_ them in the first place when he knows so well that he'd get skinned and shredded the second he walked in here?" she reasoned. "And why," she added, raising a brow, "was Kabuto so close to my room when he was looking for something? Why would he want _me_? Can you explain _that_ Mr. Know-it-all?"

The corner of his lips quirked up in a half smirk and his grip on her wrists relinquished, allowing her to drop her arms to her sides where she rubbed them slightly. He brought one hand up and placed it beside her head on the wall.

"Your business is with medicine. My business is with Kabuto and Sasuke. That means you stay out of _my_ business, and we're all happy, got it?"

Sakura raised a brow.

"What kind of logic is _that_?" she protested.

"The kind that means you should go back to sleep before I decide to punish you for disobeying me," he said.

Sakura's eyes widened and fear flashed through them before Inner Sakura took a step up. Sakura raised her hands up, holding them to Itachi's chest and shoving him hard, though he only moved back a step, but _she_ still moved forward.

"_Punish_ me?" she hissed. "_Punish me_!!" She shoved him again. "Where the hell do you get off saying that?! I'm not some fucking _pet_ you can order to sit and roll over!!" Another shove, but he caught her hands this time, leaning down to her ear.

"You said I was the type for leather and chains, right?" he murmured. "That's _screaming_ punishment, and _you're_ offering."

He pulled away to look at her horrified face. She would _never **ever**_ consider doing **_that_ **with **_him_**! Of all people, Itachi?

'_Hell no!!!'_

He began to walk away and only reached a few steps before he spoke again.

"There are times where I wish you knew, Sakura," he began, "because your _true_ power would come out then. I really wish you knew..."

* * *

When Sakura woke up the next morning, she remembered the events from the night before and pondered them while going through the familiar routine of getting ready. She still couldn't grasp the fact that Sasuke and Kabuto had been in the complex, number one, and number two, they hadn't fought with anyone or anything. Had Orochimaru joined with the Akatsuki without Konoha's knowledge? Or were they under some sort of peace treaty? If that was the case, then why would Kabuto have to sneak around and give her an excuse? 

If that was a lie, then why was Kabuto looking for _her_? How would he even know she was there to begin with? He wouldn't, no matter how good a spy he was!

She continued to think as she moved down the halls and the stairs, turning into the kitchen, only to find it entirely empty. Blinking in the hopes of discovering it as an illusion, she quickly discovered it to truly be empty.

"Where is everyone?" she asked herself, walked towards the fridge.

There was a note on it written in what Sakura could've easily mistaken as a child's handwriting.

-_Sakura,_

_We've gone to a meeting...yeah. Be back by dinnertime, so don't do anything to piss Itachi off...yeah._

_Love,_

_Deidara_-

Sakura blinked again, and read the not again.

"Oh my God..." Sakura said slowly. "He's a complete and total idiot."

Inner Sakura broke out into a fit of hysterics complete with a river of tears and an aching belly from laughter. It didn't help any that there was a very childlike drawing in the bottom left hand corner of nine or so stick figures in Akatsuki cloaks and hats, the best drawn one being of a gender-confused blonde. He was the only one colored in.

"Isn't he supposed to be an artist or something?" she muttered, raising a brow. "Oh well."

Sakura snatched some leftover dinner from the night before, heating it up and eating it in the kitchen, enjoying the sunlight filtering through the window and the silence she could freely relax in. She thought about the things she could do while she was by herself, but a part of her doubted she was actually alone and that this was some kind of sick twisted test to see what she would do in her spare time to use against her.

She told that part to shut up.

She figured she could take a bath for an hour or so since she hadn't had one in over two weeks, only showers. She also made it a point to explore some of the other rooms and see if she could find Kisame's room. That way, she wouldn't have to worry about asking people or walking in on someone else only to be yelled at or teased by a certain blonde gender-confused Naruto wannabe.

Finishing off her breakfast, she decided to get some exploring done first. She started back up the stairs and began with the main hall. As she walked, trying the doors, she found that some were locked while others were open. The first that was open was halfway down the hallway.

Looking inside she found a room an explosion of colors. There were different pictures all over the place and each was painted in fine detail. There were various clay sculptures against one wall, hanging from the ceiling, on shelves, littering the bed and the floor like stuffed animals. Sakura saw an open closet with replicas of the exact same outfit and a pole with hair ties stack from bottom to top. She thought she'd seen enough to know whose room this was.

'Only Blondie...'

Closing the door, she moved further down the hall, finding that the only other open door was at the end. Opening it slowly, she took a peek inside, and she gasped in surprise.

'_They gave us those shitty books in the lab when they have _this_ right down the hall from our room?!_' Inner Sakura screeched.

Sakura gawked, staring with rapidly moving eyes at the expansion of shelves piled high with colorful books and handwritten journals. Out of instinct and reflex she pulled out of the doorway to check and see if anyone was in the hall. Seeing that she was safe from being caught, she snuck inside, closing the door gently behind her. Now that she was inside the room, she came to realize that it was enormous! It had to be bigger than the entire hallway of rooms, and she briefly wondered if this was a genjutsu.

There was a window-

'How is that possible if the room isn't near the end of the house?'

-directly to the left, sunlight pouring in, and another one facing her. The door had a lock on the side facing her.

Shrugging mentally, she took off for the nearest case of books, fingertips touching the binds of each. Her eyes were filled with excitement at this new room. Honestly, who would've thought she'd find a library so close to her room?

She had forgotten about the time Deidara had told her they'd arrive back by, and snatched the first book she could find, plopped down on the floor, and began to read.

* * *

"Can you stop talking about money for two seconds?...yeah!" 

Deidara pulled his straw hat off, flinging it at Kakuzu who caught it and dropped it onto the table.

"So where's this girl you were talking about?"

Deidara paused, looking at Kisame's back as he headed towards the lab to inform Sakura of their arrival. He waited until Kisame knocked, called Sakura's name, walked in, called her name again, and then walked back out.

"She's not in there," he explained to the blonde, who transfered the thought to the money-lover grouching behind him.

"Let's check her room...yeah," Deidara suggested, heading up the stairs.

* * *

A stack of books was finished, a dark blue book topping it. Sakura stretched, carefully making sure she didn't knock over any of the piles that surrounded her. The sunlight was still shining through the window, but she could see the sun beginning to set. She stood, stretching her legs, and hopped over a few piles, moving to pick out another book, when she heard footsteps. She froze in her place, listening for any sign someone might walk in on her, and hurriedly began silently putting the books back in their proper places. 

Sakura saw the door opening out of the corner of her eye. She didn't have time to run or hide before Itachi walked in, closing the door behind him and locking it with a click that seemed to ring louder in her ears than it would've been to anyone else's.

'_Oh shit._'

"I figured you would be in here," he said quietly, walking towards her.

Sakura swallowed her fear, putting on her best glare and stubborn attitude.

"Any reason in particular why you didn't tell me about this place?" she asked, placing one hand on her hip and holding a book in her other hand.

"Any reason in particular why you were snooping around?" he countered, now in front of her.

She narrowed her eyes at him, body tense. She watched as he brought his hand up, pulling the book away from her. He glanced down at it, a mocking smirk playing across his lips as he tossed it behind him. His eyes focused on hers again.

"You've never seen the Mangekyou Sharingan before, have you?" he asked her, a twinkle in his eyes and the light and _nearly cheerful_ tone of his voice leading her to know something was wrong.

She shook her head.

"No, I've never seen it," she replied cautiously. "Any specific reason why?"

He chuckled, and it was different from his usual one. It was deeper, darker, and overall scarier, and Sakura knew something was _definitely_ wrong. She jerked to the side, trying to get around him, but he grasped her shoulders and held her in place, looking into her eyes.

"That punishment has your name written all over it."

As the evening sun shone down on her, she remembered Kakashi's words, telling her to look away. She could hear Inner Sakura's words to fight the hold because she knew, deep down, that even if she _did_ have a split personality, it was possible to make her suffer for a short while before he would be booted from her mind. Sakura couldn't fight back however, for the fear that cast its spell over her body made her frozen in her place.

Her vision slowly turned from red and black swirls to red and black surroundings, and she became confused as to where she was.

"You are in my world now," Itachi's voice invaded her ears, his form a blur in the distance. "I control time, space, and mass here."

Sakura felt her heart stop, blood running cold.

"You will be here for the next 72 hours."

* * *

Itachi gazed at the fallen body on the floor, glancing at the window across the room. He would bring Sakura back to her room. Bending down, he picked the girl up and exited the library. Deidara, Kisame, and the other members of the Akatsuki were all bickering in the kitchen; he could hear them from his position in the hallway. As he opened the door to her room, she began to stir, and Itachi slowed his steps down. Sakura's eyes blinked open and she let out a gasp after a few seconds, noting just whose arms were holding her. 

She squirmed violently before Itachi dropped her uncerimoniously onto the floor, creating a loud thumping sound he didn't doubt the people on the floor below heard. Sakura held back a hiss, gritting her teeth as she settled Itachi with a groggy glare. She barely remembered what had happened.

Library, reading, Itachi came in, then red and black clouds.

"72 hours..."

Itachi turned around and headed back down the hallway, leaving Sakura to be overwhelmed by the soon to surface events. As he did, however, Sakura got to her feet. The moment she hit the bed, she remembered everything, and as her gaze moved to rest outside in the hopes of sunlight making her feel better, she found that the sun had already set, something that should've taken at least half an hour to do.

She couldn't care, though. All she could do was cry, for the sights she had witnessed weren't meant to be seen.

For the sights she had seen, involved things done to Kakashi Tsunade hadn't told Sakura about.

* * *

The next morning, Sakura woke up with a dry throat and a headache. She could recall the events of the entire day before, knowing the day had actually happened. Kakashi. Itachi. The more she tried to think about it, the more painful her headache became, so she stopped thinking, settling for trudging out of bed. She'd skipped nearly an entire day of food once again and found that, as she dressed, she would have to face Itachi soon enough, and she would be the one to show him he'd had no effect on her. She was strong. He probably made it all up to scare her into submission. 

Arriving into the kitchen, she acted like she normally did. She said hello to Deidara and Kisame, glared at Itachi and ignored him, got herself some toast and then proceeded to her lab to catch up on some reading and testing.

She remembered the medical files she had yet to read.

'I'll start with Itachi. Something just isn't right with him.'

She searched through the files until she found Itachi's medical folder. She pulled it out of the pile, grabbed a pen and her notebook, and walked over to the chair beside the examination table, sitting down. She opened the folder, flipping to the first page where a simple picture of Itachi sat stapled to a stack of papers. She scanned over the first page.

-_Uchiha, Itachi_

_Age: 15_

_Height: 158 cm_

_Weight: 50.1 kg_

_Birthday: June 9_

_Blood type: AB_

_Bloodline Ability: Sharingan_-

"Why doesn't this start when he first arrived?" Sakura questioned quietly, flipping to the next page that had information regarding a few mission injuries that Itachi sustained-

"Protecting...Orochimaru? What the hell?"

She looked for specific details but any information concerning who she believed to be Orochimaru was covered with a line of thick black ink.

'Just like Konoha's records, but why would Orochimaru be in _Itachi's_ medical records?'

She read a little more and found meaningless information filling up what was posing at usable data. She hit another section marking Itachi as 18. His exam scores were the best Sakura had ever seen. His body was in completely perfect condition. Extremely perfect until she reached his vision score.

"How old is he now? 26?" she cried. "He's got to be blind by now!"

She skimmed the remaining pages, paying attention to the differences between the scores in the file and the scores she had received, marking them down, and making a chart describing the rate at which his vision was decreasing with each exam.

-_He continues to refuse help, and as this last entry before his file is sealed, it is impossible at my own standards and level of skill to cure him. There are only two medics eligible, and they would be the legendary slug tamer, but she would never help a criminal, and her ex-apprentice, wife to the famous Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura, who also would refuse to help the Akatsuki._

_From what I've seen, his eyes won't last him until he even reaches 28 years of age. He'll be lucky if he can maintain his vision long enough to survive an attack from his brother. He's aquired servi_-

"Goddamnit!" Sakura swore, glaring at the line of black covering the rest of the sentence. "Are these guys for real?" she hissed, marking down some finals points before slamming the folder shut.

She exhaled slowly, rubbing her temple with her free hand, closing her eyes and trying to think. Itachi's eyesight was horrible, and she had been listed there as married to Kakashi, so it had to have been within the last year, at least. But that last word looked a lot like 'service', so who would Itachi have hired services from and why would he have done it? She was listed, Kakashi was listed, and Tsunade had been listed.

And why did parts need to be blacked out?

Sakura shook her head, trying to think some more, but found her mind coming up with blanks each time. With a heavy sigh, she flipped the notebook to a separate section reserved for her research in books, and tried not to think about how much more she could be doing in the library as opposed to this pathetic excuse for a lab.

'This is going to be a looong day.'

* * *

**"Itachi, it's been a while."**

**The Sharingan master tightened his grip on the shining blade in his hand.**

**"Why have you come here?" he asked.**

**The man he was talking to chuckled as eerie familiar sound. Why hadn't he just gone for the kill already?**

**"I have a proposal that might interest you."**

**Itachi didn't move a muscle.**

**"What makes you think I'd be interested?" he queried, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly.**

**"It has to do with a certain shinobi, his newlywed wife, and the Akatsuki's ultimate goal," the man replied.**

**Itachi lowered his katana to his side, remaining alert for any possible attacks from anyone.**

**"Hatake Kakashi and his wife?"**

**"Sakura Haruno."**

**"The medic?" Itachi asked.**

**"Yes."**

**Itachi thought for a few moments. Kakashi and Sakura, and the organization's goal. What was the snake up to?**

**"Tell me what you're thinking, Orochimaru, and I'll consider it."**

**"You're 23, correct?"**

* * *

He looked sick again. 

Sakura could've sworn he'd had a miraculous recovery the night before last, but at that moment when she walked into the kitchen to fix herself a small breakfast, she could've screamed and said she had discovered her bloodline trait: seeing dead people.

His skin was paler than normal with bags under his eyes. Beads of sweat were scattered around his face and he looked like he had a fever. Had she missed something? How could he have gotten sick again so fast?

With a sigh, she ignored her stomach's protest for food and walked to Itachi, wrapping her fingers around his arm, tugging it lightly.

"Come on, I'll give you a quick exam and get some medicine in you," she urged.

She expected him to complain or decline her help, do something that would annoy her, but he didn't. He complied quickly, putting his chopsticks down over her bowl and standing to follow Sakura.

'Wow, he must really be feeling miserable.'

'_Serves the bastard right!_'

She led him to the lab, opening the door, and having him sit down on the examination table while she pulled a few things out to work with. Walking back over to him, she gave a tug at his shirt, slipping her hands beneath the material and onto his chest.

His pulse was different and his entire body cried 'sick', so she determined he was suffering from a basic cold.

"Nothing bad. I'll just use my chakra to build up your immune system a little and speed up the antibody count," she explained, pushing her chakra into his body and performing the tasks she told him she would do.

Within two minutes she was done and was heading to the sink to wash her hands.

"You held back," he said quietly, causing Sakura to stop in her tracks.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"During the fight, you held back," he said. "Why?"

Sakura's body turned rigid and her eyes looked to the wall.

"I didn't hold back," she argued.

She heard him get off of the examination table, heading towards her.

"You're an ANBU Squad Captain, Sakura," he explained pointedly. "Though only a medic, you still need certain skills, and you never used any of them in the fight. _You_ held back just as much as Kisame did."

She didn't say anything at first. Why should she? He was just saying that to piss her off -of course it was working- and make her say something revealing. She wouldn't admit that she had been holding back as well. She would _never_ admit it, and she hadn't even realized anyone knew up until now. Was Itachi the only person who noticed?? Or was he only making it up to see her reaction and see if he could pull some more weak points out of her?

He smirked that God-awful smirk of his and walked up to her, grasping her chin between his thumb, middle, and pointer fingers, tilting her head to the side.

"I hate you," she whispered, hands fisting and shaking slightly.

Leaning forward, he put his lips right against her ear, loving the way she had to force herself not to lash out at him.

"Love you too," and he was gone, leaving her to curse him to death in her mind as she forced herself to read some more mythology.

She never noted the single scar across his stomach had disappeared completely.

* * *

**Thank you to all of my amazingly awesome reviewers!!**

**Skitzoflame, Heartless Ghost, aznmelon, AriaOfChaos, xXnarutofan-22Xx, Lady Light, SweetAssassin, Chryseis Wyvernsen, xXSakakiXx, honey I just wanna hear you, krystleg777, GinaCat, kakashisninjadogs, xxxSethKisaraxxx, Natsu Yukili, Miakoda13, Riley Killer, Rhonda21, Serenity Fey, crimson-asylum, SpeedDemon315, SakuraHatake, VixenOfDeath809, Siy, Marsgoddess1, Hija Del Sucio, This be my effing name, The Perverted Hermit, Akatsuki210**

So this chapter had some Kabuto and Sasuke in it. Itachi and Sasuke being civil? Ooooo...you're going to have to see what's in store. I can promise this story will blow your minds, so please stay with me on it, and don't be afraid to ask questions. Orochimaru is popping up a little more, and I'm eager to hear if anyone has any ideas at where I'm heading with this story. And for those of you keeping up with my little hints and clues, you've already got an advantage.

I also got to find a quick download of chapters 327-329 when I heard about one of the sensei's deaths. It's really sad, actually. But I also found out about the Akatsuki's true purpose, and it's scary how knowing about their purpose makes writing this story all the easier because my thoughts ran something along the lines of what their plan really was. Now that I know for sure, the rest of the story is pretty much fully outlined. I'm missing a few chapters from Arc 3 and Arc 4, but I know what I want to put in, just not specifically, only generally.

And Hidan is really hot!! I'd convert to his religion any day...ooo, that's inspiring me to write a story...

Here's the heavily belated chapter 7 for you guys to enjoy! Yeah, it's an ongoing excuse I'd always hoped I wouldn't need to rely on, but school hates me, and I usually hate it. But there were a lot of changes that had to be made, some are being fixed soon, and I had a relapse, sort of. It's called 'Breathrough Depression' I believe, so I was trying to focus on the areas I knew would get hit the hardest, and that means school, because when I'm depressed, my grades drop.

And if you guys heard about the storm that knocked out the power in Western New York, then you'll know where I was for about two weeks, because I lost power the Thursday of the storm and didn't get it back until ten days later, and even then the phones and computers weren't working for another three days. Wonderful, huh? 27 frickin' degrees in the house, too, so we went to stay with my uncle on Grand Island, but they don't have a computer.

I did get to go see The Grudge 2, and I was laughing my ass off in the theatre. I watched less than a minute of the first one and I couldn't go to sleep with the light off for two weeks, but the second one had me laughing so hard I was asked to leave. Explain that to the press! I also made a comic for one of the scenes on my deviantart account.

Halloween was pretty crappy, too. I was Sexy no Jutsu Itachi, and I made my costume so it was entirely different from the cloak-as-a-dress outfit in cosplays. I got hit on by three guys in jerseys. That was my highlight of the evening. Fishnet is a beautiful thing...

For those of you who actually read this- I'm sure you've read the stories "Loophole" by leafygirl and the "Metamorphosis" series by MitsukiShiroi, among other brilliantly written ItachiSakura stories by other authors such as:

Miakoda13  
Siy  
FrozyEmo  
selandora  
UchihaSakura-always  
lclsurfer  
I.Plead.Ignorance  
ItachixSakura Forever  
x-cry

:I've taken it upon myself to write a story better than all of the ones by those authors. I have a lot of respect for you guys (if you're reading this, you'll know) because this pairing is by no means simple to write. It's hard to come up with something people will read and believe to be somewhat possible, while still having the ability to write well and keep the characters in check.

I want to reach the same ranks as those favorite authors and as that dream holds high, I won't give up this story. I want to be another one of those authors people know and enjoy. I want to be able to know I've changed something, even if this _is_ fanfiction, because it's still writing, and as for now, writing is my life, and will be my career. Fanfiction is just a short step away from fiction, and I intend to make the best out of this.

**THIS IS THE KISAME/SAKURA ARC. THERE WILL BE AT LEAST THREE MORE ARCS, EACH WILL BE 11 CHAPTERS LONG.**

**ARC 1: KISAME/SAKURA  
ARC 2: KAKASHI/SAKURA  
ARC 3: ITACHI/SAKURA/KISAME  
ARC 4: ITACHI/SAKURA**

Thanks for reading! Please review! Till later!

Backlash Symphony

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	8. Arc 1: Within Temptation

Story Title: Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter Title: 8. Within Temptation

Chapter 8 of 11

Arc 1 of 4

Pairing: ItachiSakuraKisame

Rating: M (Swearing, Later chapters)

Author: Backlash Symphony

Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More specifically, Kisame.ItaSakuKis

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it.

Extra: I really didn't mean to take so long. I could drown you all in long excuses to explain my horrendous absence, but I won't. I will say I lost my two best best friends of all time and fell into a seriously deep depression, but that is it. I'm incredibly sorry. I hope this update makes up partially for my absence, but I can only hope to please those who are still following this story after such a long pause.

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke: 20

Itachi, Kabuto: 26

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade: 58

Text means normal writing.

'Text' means thoughts.

_'Text'_mean Inner Sakura's thoughts.

**Text** means flashback.

-_Text_- means something written.

* * *

**"It's just a precaution, Sakura," Kakashi stressed.**

**"Precaution my ass!" she cried. "You wouldn't be getting so worked up over a 'precaution', Kakashi! It's a B-Rank mission, correct? You've gone through S-Ranked ones with ease, so why are you fretting over a simple escort mission?"**

**"I'm **_**not**_** fretting, Sakura. I'm simply assuring you that we never know what could happen."**

**Sakura gave a snortlike chuckle, crossing her arms over her chest.**

**"Right, and Zabuza is going to come back to life to make hell for you again."**

**Kakashi gripped her shoulders suddenly, forcing her to look at him.**

**"I'm serious. Should something happen to me-"**

**"**_**Nothing**_** is going to happen to you!" Sakura protested, but her eyes suddenly narrowed at Kakashi. "Wait, this isn't actually a B-ranked mission, is it?" she asked slowly.**

**Kakashi was quick to answer. **_**Too**_** quick.**

**"Yes, it's a B-rank, but all simple missions of mine are prone to change into more dangerous situations," he explained evenly.**

**Sakura didn't buy it and something told her this had to do with his awkward behavior from before.**

**"Is something going on, Kakashi?" she asked softly, though firmly. "**_**What**_**'s going on?"**

**One hand left her shoulder to gently stroke her cheek. Unconsciously she leaned into the touch, though she still eyed him suspiciously.**

**"Just promise me you'll stay safe, and that you'll think about everything." His tone was low almost as if he thought he was being spied on by an enemy, afraid to say anything incriminating or important directly. "Underneath the **_**underneath**_**, Sakura. Figure it out."**

**"But-"**

**His lips covered hers, lingering for but a moment.**

**And he was gone.**

* * *

Timeframe: Three Days Later

* * *

"Hey, Pinky, you alright over there?...yeah." 

Sakura jerked to attention, snapping her head in the direction of the table.

"What? Were you saying something?"

"If you frown any harder your face will get stuck like that," Sasori mumbled, sipping on his tea.

Sakura scowled at him while Deidara held back a grin.

"Don't make me kill you again," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

She poured the remaining tea in her cup down the sink, setting the dish down with a sigh. She turned the water on, filling the cup with water until it overflowed.

"You'd need a little help first, don't you think?" Sasori countered. "Afterall, I'm still not dead."

"I'd hold my own just fine, thank you very much!" she exclaimed, beginning to walk towards the exit of the kitchen.

"Pinky! Turn the water off!...yeah!" Deidara called out, running to the sink and turning the faucet.

Sakura didn't even hear him for she was pulled back into her thoughts. It was obvious today was going to be a tough day what with Kakashi's last words reappearing for the first time in ages in her head.

She arrived to her lab within a few moments. She sighed as she closed the door behind her. The day ahead of her was going to be long enough due to just her exhausted condition. Adding the work she had to get done was an entirely different subject. She still had Deidara's and Kisame's records to read over, Itachi's report to write, and more tests to conduct. All she really wanted to do was crawl back into bed. She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry again.

"Kakashi..."

How was it possible for someone to be so evil? How could anyone do something so terrible to someone else?

Those thoughts alone were enough to make her stumble and nearly fall to the ground. Kakashi's blood was everywhere. His body...she couldn't believe it was his. She couldn't believe he'd let Itachi torture him, do what he'd done to make him suffer. Why would Itachi be interested in it anyway? He wasn't hell-bent on retrieving the Sharingan, so why would he have any need to take it?

Sakura's breathing stopped.

"Wait, Itachi took Kakashi's Sharingan?"

Tsunade hadn't revealed that piece of information to Sakura with everything else she'd told her. She hadn't been allowed to see Kakashi's body for it was too maimed and broken to allow Sakura's sanity to remain intact. But Tsunade had actually left that part out.

Why?

_Why?_

This was her husband!! She deserved to know what happened and even if Tsunade didn't want to go into detail about what his body went through, she had no right to withhold information as important as his Sharingan being _stolen_!

Any depression Sakura felt was thrown to the back of her mind. She was pissed and confused and she wanted to know what else she had been left in the dark of. This point in time was the only time Sakura would ever trust the word of someone she hated, and she turned and walked back to the kitchen, body straight and a serious expression on her face. Sad Sakura was gone. She was dead serious now and she refused to do anything until she got some answers.

"Uchiha," Sakura announced, walking to the table.

Everyone looked up at her, immediately taking note of the difference in her attitude. Her arms crossed over her chest as she moved to stand behind Deidara.

"What did you do with it?" she continued.

Itachi didn't say anything but the look in his eyes expressed that he knew exactly what she was talking about. Sakura's focus was only on the monster before her.

"Well? I know you can speak, so say something!" she snapped.

"It was an act of satisfaction, I suppose," Itachi explained with a subtle smirk. "He's not of my family. Obito was a fool to give something so precious to him."

The response she was given made sense while at the same time it confused her. Itachi had answered her, yes, but he had done so simply without riling her up more. His actual response wasn't even something Itachi would say.

"That's it?" she whispered, brows furrowing. "That's it. That's all. Gee, why do I not believe you?"

Itachi shrugged.

"Hm, I don't know. You've got the tendency to disregard everything I say."

Sakura glared harder at him, forgetting the fact that Deidara was sitting in a chair right in front of her, and took a step forward, hand reaching out to grab something sharp from the table. She reached forward, ignoring the blonde's body.

"Whoa, whoa!...yeah!!" Deidara cried out, shooting up from his seat to restrain Sakura.

"If you don't let go of me, I'll assume you want to get stabbed, too!" Sakura hissed, glaring out of the corner of her eye at the clay master.

Itachi stood suddenly from his seat, grabbing the attention of the blond and the pinkette; his dishes were left on the table. He settled Sakura with a gaze that unnerved her but she didn't show anything but her anger.

"It would suit you well to stop acting like a spoiled brat who assumes she can get anything she wants," he said evenly. "I would hate to inform you of the punishments linked to such behavior."

His words struck Sakura deeper than he thought they would. She found herself speechless, merely looking at the place he was in even after he had walked to the exit of the kitchen. On his way out, however, he uttered a few final words to Sakura that made her chest feel a pang of pain.

"Get back to the lab. It's the only place where you're useful."

He was gone before Sakura could find the words to say to counter the statement; any words she could have conjured wouldn't have been spoken, though. She silently stared at the table, a broken gaze resting on the knife partially clutched in her fingers. She could still feel Deidara's protective hold around her and it suffocated her mind.

She was a spoiled brat? She was useless?

"**You should spend more time training. You're useless to this team otherwise."**

Her fingers tightened around the piece of sharpened metal, her mind slipping once again into the black endless pit of memories that haunted and pained her.

"Sasuke," she murmured weakly, eyes drooping.

Her fingers gripped the blade more as images surfaced in her head. Images of Sasuke in his youth when he was a star and a prodigy among all; when all the girls fawned over him and he hated it; Sasuke when she confessed her love for him and he'd simply knocked her out with the incomprehensible phrase "thank you"; Sasuke when she found him with Orochimaru and was forced to see the monster he'd turned into because of the snake bastard.

Every insult, every put-down, every back she watched, every day she blew off, every single thing she did to show him she loved him would be pushed aside, yet she'd come back like the loyal girl she was. It was all worth nothing to him and it never would be anything for it was all too late for everybody by this point.

Tighter she held the knife. "A spoiled brat, he says?" she asked thoughtfully. "I don't recall him being the one taken hostage." Tighter. "He didn't have to pick between saving his best friend, his husband, or his life." Tighter. "Useless, he says?" She chuckled lowly, and her voice got louder. "It's not my fault he gives me constant work-time, or food that tastes like it's been processed!" Tighter. "He gives me books that are outdated and have pages missing! And-and-"

_Snap!_

"Pinky!"

Her blood trickled along the edges of the broken pieces of the blade, but that didn't stop her rant.

"He came back too fast yesterday at sunset and caught me in the library that had all the books I really actually needed in it! Like he _knew_ I would be there! And then they spun, and spun, and I got dragged in! But…no…it wasn't…not…"

She stopped completely and Deidara had a good enough hold on her hand to force her to release the metal pieces. However, her words had everyone else on a subtle edge that she never picked up on.

Her speech slowed drastically and she finally seemed to notice the blood that was spreading in thin rivulets across the table. She cocked her head to the side, mesmerized by the crimson color; by the fluvial quality it held. She brought her hand closer to her face, so close Deidara and Kisame and Sasori and all the rest watching assumed she would surely lick the blood, but she didn't; she simply stared, and they waited for her to change subjects.

"There was a kiss…and he…the way he cleaned up the blood…the way blood is supposed to flow…and the sunset…" her head shot up suddenly and her eyes widened as she looked out of the window, ignoring the fact that it was a genjutsu image she was perceiving. "He started at sunset!" she cried. "He never- at sunset- he- he's hiding something in that library!"

With rage as her support, she ripped away from Deidara's hold, away from the group of men who she hadn't paid any attention to, and sped away from the kitchen. She raced up the stairs, knowing her destination's location, and didn't hear or see the two men racing after her. Down the hall she went and with her heart pounding in her chest, she reached the door. With her mind sure of its theory, Sakura touched the doorknob and opened the door.

The sight before her was enough to send her to her knees.

The once glamorous and grand library, stacked from floor to ceiling with books concerning everything from rare forbidden jutsu to the most efficient methods of interrogation, was nothing more now than a room painted black and red with a small bookcase and a desk and a bed with a very irritated looking almost completely naked Itachi glaring at the three.

"What do you want to complain about now?" he commanded, but her voice was caught as she slid down the doorframe and onto the floor.

"I'm going crazy," she gasped.

He adjusted the towel around his waist so that he could hold the material with one hand and walked to the woman at the entrance of his room. A single look at her would confirm anyone's beliefs that she was on the brink of tears, but her hair was enshrouding her face and it was impossible to tell if she was silently crying at all.

He slid his bangs behind his ears and gripped the edge of his door after, settling Deidara and Kisame with a heavy glare.

"Why did the two of you let her come to my room?" he asked harshly. "Why did you not make sure she went back to her work?"

Deidara fidgeted, glanced down at Sakura, and said quietly, "She started talking strangely about you using the Tsukuyomi on her yesterday when we returned…yeah." There was a glare in his gaze but his voice remained quiet and calm.

"She came up here because she believed there was a library," Kisame added, a strain lining his otherwise calm voice and a guilty look washing over his face.

Itachi looked down at the girl once again and the corners of his lips quirked upwards in a twisted malicious smirk that made Kisame and Deidara both unconsciously flinch.

"Is that so?" he asked in a tone that was suddenly soothing, the total opposite of his expression. "Well then, I'll take care of this. The two of you can go."

Deidara and Kisame failed to move at first, blatantly showing their distrust of the Sharingan user. There was an unspoken challenge - a disrespect, more so – between Itachi and the two other men standing outside his room. He held his gaze, however, and that same unspoken challenge transformed into an unspoken command; they had no choice but to follow it.

Grudgingly, they cast final worried glances down at the woman who they each had grown accustomed to and nodded their heads to Itachi.

"Until later...yeah" Deidara sighed, and he and Kisame walked downstairs, leaving Sakura to the dark will of Itachi.

The girl on her knees quivered, all too aware of the absence of the two men she'd become somewhat close to. The two were her only sources of protection –not that she'd normally need it, and not that it'd make much of a difference anyway; still she was the only one with the guts to stand up to the red-eyed asshole and she was highly positive she was the only one to survive. At the same time, she was becoming vaguely aware of the bitter signs of nausea stirring in the pit of her stomach and threatening to inch its way up her throat.

Her right eye was beginning to twitch behind the veil of tears and if these signals kept up, she knew what would be sure to happen, and the mere thought terrified her more than any glare of _his_ eyes or pin against the wall from _his_ body. She hadn't had one of _those_ experiences since a few weeks before she left for the mission, and she'd be damned if she had one in front of the idiots who called themselves the most powerful beings in the world.

'They're going to kill me in that sadistic painful way they would,' she thought frantically.

It was then that she heard the soft creaks of his feet as he padded towards her. She squeezed her eyes shut and closed her fingers into a fist, trying to push away the tingle that was creeping through them.

'No, no, not now!' she whimpered.

She tried her hardest to will away what she hoped wouldn't be inevitable. She prayed, chanting in her head for it to pass because she couldn't let it get to his head, couldn't let him think she was weak. She wasn't, Damnit! _**She wasn't**_!

He moved closer and she could feel her heart increasing its speed, pounding so fast she heard the incessant thumps in her ears like war drums. Another whimper betrayed her fear of one of those situations. She bit her lip and prayed harder, nails digging into her wounded palm and spreading the slice wider, causing more blood to push up and trail over her paled hands.

She couldn't see the hungry gaze in his eyes as Itachi watched her blood, wished he could be the one to make it come out of her. Yes, he was picturing it now, what would happen.

Sakura was chained high up on the wall, the room dark everywhere except for where his tools were and around her body. She would be that pseudo calm of hers, that façade of rage and power pushed aside as fear worked its agonizing way through her body in the form of a drug he would've induced with a forceful bruising kiss- no!- the sharp jagged pierce of a needle, to which she'd grit her teeth and hiss, yes!

Yes, he would take a nice sharp scalpel from his tray and begin to trail it gently from the corner of those over-emotional jade eyes of her, making sure not to put a single scratch on the flawless skin she had for he would go back later and shatter every bone agonizingly slowly with his hands while he took her brutally and in such a way that made her forget her precious Hatake.

He'd watch those eyes in joy as she pretended not to be terrified, not to worry that at any moment he may just slit her throat and bask in the blood that escaped her beautiful body.

Or what her body would experience once it was already _dead_.

That scalpel would trail ever so slowly down her throat where he would begin to apply pressure and just _barely_ slice open the skin. She would gasp, gulp, and fear would barely bleed into her eyes like the small wound on her neck would barely bleed any crimson, but she'd slip for a single moment before rebuilding her walls and bringing him back his challenge.

Oh dear God, he _loved_ to play with toys like _her_.

They made such _perfect_experiments.

The tip of the blade would reach her tattered shirt and begin to slice down, pressing harder so that it brought the blade deep enough into her skin to_really_ make it bleed, and he would lean forward and attach his mouth to the would, sucking the blood as he sliced further down. She would question whether to stay still and let him slice deeper as he moved further down her taut body, or to squirm to get away from her impending penetration of an entirely _different_ kind.

The blade would dig deeper into her skin until it got to the line where a bra should be, though he knew mere bandages would await him _this_ time. He would do various things to her body with each different time he came to her. It would all lead to the same thing, however.

He would lean forward, press his heavily toned body against her naked and bloodied and_violated_ one, and he would tell her she was a whore and a slut, that she enjoyed being punished, that she was a dirty tramp, a pathetic needy bitch, all the while touching her to make her feel weak for being unable to stop him. His fingers would slide over the cuts and bruises he'd inflicted before pushing in_side_ them, making her cry out and restrain her noises.

"This body is beautiful," he'd whisper into her ear, one hand undoing the zipper withholding his victim's worst nightmare while the other would wrap just tight enough around her throat to make her think she'd get the choice of death. "It deserves to be put to good use before there's no time left."

Then those gorgeous legs of hers would be spread so wide it would hurt, or perhaps he'd have them wrapped around his waist? She'd be stiff with fear and tense with pain, and she'd perspire and be slick to slide against.

Then she would either rasp, "I'm not afraid of you," or, "Don't think you'll be getting me to say anything. I've got _nothing_ to say to the likes of _you_," all through a broken jaw, of course.

His response would be a hearty laugh, an evil laugh that would send shivers down her spine and crack her façade just a little more as she futilely attempted to prepare herself for the worst. He would then say, "Pet, if you can say anything other than 'please stop', then all my years of experience will have been for nothing," and he would thrust his hips forward and thoroughly penetrate her entirely unwilling body.

He shuddered as his fantasy became shattered by a sharp cry that was _too_ real for the dream he'd been envisioning permeated the room. His crimson eyes focused on Sakura's shivering body. The power of the images threatened to overtake his vision again but he persisted on remaining in the present, not the near future.

She was now on her butt, staring wide eyed at something to the right of him in the back of his room. Whatever it was, however, had her shaking and with an expression of terror written across her features. His crimson eyes slid down to gaze at her heaving chest, and noted that whatever she was afraid of, he couldn't believe it to be him.

With a glance past his own shoulder, he saw nothing but shadows, and he knew specifically that nothing would be there that could possibly evoke such an action from Sakura. When he moved back to look at her once again, he saw that she was shakily getting onto her feet, using the doorframe to hold the brunt of her weight and to steady her.

He could hear the mumbling of words escape from her mouth, whispers along the lines of "Not now" and "Stop, please don't", and for the briefest of moments, he could've sworn he'd mistakenly put a genjutsu on her making her go through the fantasy as it had run through his mind. He quickly dismissed that theory, however, because he had _stopped,_and she was still reacting.

Once again he glanced over his shoulder in the direction Sakura was looking in, and when he still saw nothing but shadow, he felt disgust churning in the pit of his stomach. What was this stupid girl getting so worked up about? Shadows, for God's sake!

And then she was up entirely, abruptly, and he had to tighten the hold on the towel around his waist to not lose control of his reflexes. He had yet to figure out what was going through her head, and this behavior wasn't something normal.

But in Sakura's mind, this _was_ a normal thing, at least, ever since Kakashi's death, it had been. And before, when it was so bad that she couldn't even breathe for fear of her mind alluding her to be inhaling something other than oxygen, she had pills to knock the symptoms away from her, to calm her terror and soothe her aching spirit.

But genius that she was_hated_ relying on medication to make her better, and she had gotten _better_, she _had_, and for nearly a month she didn't need to take those pills. She hadn't had a need to consume the little objects that would make her sane, because she _was strong!_ And she could handle it!

But now, _now_, when she was at the mercy of a crazed Uchiha and his impossible orders and his tricks and his _lies_ and his- his- _**him!!**_ And Deidara's stupid jokes and Kisame's attempts to make her feel less lonely when he was _using her like every other __**fucking**__**person there!**_

And those voices were back again, after so long without the pills and the need for them to cure her and they were _back_ and _haunting_, _**God**_they were _haunting_! Whispers and dishonesty and in her ears no matter how she tried to stifle the sounds and the gasping –was that her gasping or the voices? She couldn't tell, ha ha!! – pulling her down with them, telling her to do things she would NEVER do! EVER!

Those shadows were_moving_ and twisting and curling around the bed and Itachi and trying to claw their way out of the depths of hell to get to her, to pull her down into the fiery pits to make her suffer more because what she'd been through with losing Sasuke and not having a father as she grew up and the hatred for marrying Kakashi and Kakashi's death _wasn't enough for those damn fucking soldiers of karma!_

The shadowy tendrils were clawing their way towards her, shredding the carpet in Itachi's room, piercing through him without any pain because they _liked_**him!** And reaching for her, holding hands out to touch her and snatch her and _take her away _to the place she would pick Akatsuki over any fucking day of the year! She was crawling away, trying to get to safety, but they wouldn't have it!

And her Inner Self would be there, screaming, telling her it wasn't real, it was an illusion she was suffering because she was going through too much stress, but she hadn't heard from her Inner Self since the _one_ time after Itachi had used his Mangekyo on her, and she was _gone_!

She heard a scream piercing the air, and not a soul in the world would be able to persuade her it was her own as the shadows finally touched her. They wrapped around her legs, spiraling up and up around her calves and thighs and twisting around her waist and she _couldn't __**do**__ anything but sit and let it happen and __**God she was going to die!**_

"Saaakkurraaa…." The voices cried out to her, those tails tying tighter around her body and she couldn't fight back. "Saaaakurraaa!!" they whispered, making horrible noises like nails down a chalkboard and screams, **God** the screams!! It wasn't her, she couldn't make a noise, but it _had_ to be her!

She curled up into a ball under the strain of the shadows and it started to rain blood, all over her face and it streamed down her cheeks and tighter and tighter around her they wrapped coiling around her neck and choking her and over her mouth and nose and she couldn't breathe and leaving her eyes free to watch the disappearance of Itachi and the blood slid into her eyes and then out again and the harsh light that was coming from where he was morphing into a tall figure with long hair and horrible eyes and tighter- tighter- tighter-tight-tight-tight-tight

_Black._

* * *

Something bitter was under her nose, forcing her senses to go into major alarm and her nose to twitch and crinkle painfully like a million little stabs to the tender insides. Her eyelids flew open, expressing the fearful and hazy emerald captured behind them. She could hear a collection of sighs from both sides of her and the pop of a cap being placed into a tube. 

Blinking rapidly to dismiss the lingering sleepiness, she turned her head to see the shock of blue hair that belonged to Kisame on her left, and on her right she could see the worried features of Akatsuki's A.D.D. explosive blond Deidara.

"Oh, thank _God_ you're awake..yeah!" he exclaimed breathlessly, penetrating her with his cornflower blue eyes.

"A…wake? What do you mean-"

And the memories flooded her brain, filling her serene mind with images of curling shadows and bloody pelting rain. She felt no fear at these visions, no embarrassment, but shock. It had been so _long_ since she'd had one of her Kakashi-Trauma Episodes, as Tsunade had dubbed them.

"Oh," she said softly.

She searched her brain for the right words to say, the right questions to ask. Had Itachi told them what had happened? Or had she really been screaming and the sound had perhaps alerted them to come check on her?

"Why smelling salts?" she ended up asking as she brought a hand up to rub her eyes, only to gasp when she touched them, finding them sore.

"I found them in your pack, along with some pills that we got you to take while you were thrashing around against the wall," Kisame explained, voice expressing his relief.

'Well that answers my next question,' she thought.

"What happened to you?" Deidara asked. "You really had us worried you weren't going to make it…yeah."

Sakura looked down at one of her hands and saw it was thickly wrapped with bandages. She had remembered being cut by the broken knife blade, but she could've sworn it wasn't so bad she'd had to have it wrapped with so many bandages. She reached up with her good hand to start unraveling the bandages but one of Kisame's hands halted her, causing her to look up at him.

He winced.

"Get some more rest before you do anything," he cautioned.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm assuming I've already been out for a few days, anyways," she countered. "I'll be fine."

She could see that Kisame was fighting with himself, trying not to say something yet trying to blurt everything out to her. She wondered what was going through his head at that moment. She tried to sit up slowly, and her body couldn't stop quivering. She felt two hands on her back, pushing her up into a sitting position.

She exhaled, and started to think about how she would be treated from that moment on.

'Eh, I'll be grateful if I don't have another KTE.'

"So how long was I out for exactly?" she queried casually.

"Nearly three days," Deidara answered, rising to his feet along with Kisame, the two men towering over her, "yeah."

Sakura sighed harshly.

"Shit, that puts me behind schedule."

"I think you've got bigger problems to worry about, like Itachi's questions about this episode of yours, and your own health is more important than research that isn't getting you anywhere," Kisame scolded.

"Kisame, maybe you should get her something to eat. I'll go inform Itachi that she's awake and won't be fit to do any work for a few more days, yeah," Deidara proposed, beginning to walk for the door,

"No, no Blondie, I'll be able to work again within a few hours. Don't get yourself in trouble for lying about my condition," the pink-haired woman clarified. "And no excuses, no buts, either. I'm the medic here, I think I'd know my own condition."

Deidara didn't say a word of protest and silently left with a glance in Kisame's direction. The blue-skinned man nodded sharply and announced he would be back momentarily. He exited the room right behind Deidara.

In the silence of the room, Sakura surveyed her surroundings. She could see that she wasn't in her prescribed room, nor was she in her own clothes anymore. This made her slightly uncomfortable. Wearing a male's shirt that was entirely too big for her and her own underwear had her feeling slightly self-conscious. She was glad to be under a blanket.

She strained her hearing for a moment to see if anyone was coming back to the room and, since she heard nothing, began to unwrap the bandages around her hand. She hissed as the sight of the swollen and bloodied array of slices in her palm. Quickly, she gathered her healing chakra and dispersed it throughout her cuts, watching as the skin completely sealed itself back together. With her eyes beginning to throb, she silently sent chakra into the glassy orbs, easing the tension there.

The door opened just as she finished, and she jumped, startled, only to relax when she saw that it was only Kisame. She gave him a gentle smile and straightened her back. Sliding over a bit on the bed, she patted her hand on the sheets warm from her body, signaling for him to come sit down next to her.

He smiled at her, and the sight made her smile even brighter. After he shut the door, he walked towards the bed and revealed a carton of ice cream in his hands with a spoon pressed between the top and his thumb.

"Ice cream?" Sakura asked, surprised, and laughed.

_God_, that laugh was beautiful, just like she was even in her sickened state. Kisame shrugged and sat down beside her (as close to the edge as he possible could without falling off) popping the top off and sticking the spoon into the cold treat.

"Yeah. I figured you would like it, since you've got to be burning up in here. Sorry, I keep the temperature up because, well, yeah, you get it."

Sakura hadn't really noticed the heat, but who was she to complain? She couldn't remember the last time she'd had ice cream, let alone something that was real food at this complex. She saw, as she took the carton, that it was untouched and cookies 'n' cream, one of her top three favorites.

"Honestly, it isn't too warm in here, but thank you for thinking about that," she told him with another brilliant smile. "Although, what I'd like to know is where you managed to get this from?"

The spoon twisted in her fingers and she pulled out a delicious clump of the creamy ice cream. As her shoulder was down, the oversized shirt slid down it, exposing the shade of skin that was smooth and tan and oh- she _really_ needed to cover that skin before he did something he would regret.

"Well, it's actually Tobi's, but he really shouldn't be eating stuff like this. He's hyper enough as it is, the little punk," Kisame explained, and Sakura could've sworn he was embarrassed.

Sakura chuckled as she pushed the bite of ice cream into her mouth, not paying attention to her fallen sleeve; after all, it wasn't like one of her breasts had fallen out, and the few inches beneath her collarbone was clear to view. It's not like she didn't trust him.

Her face practically melted like the ice cream over her tongue as the sweetness enveloped her taste buds. She squealed in pure delight as her eyes squeezed shut. He watched the slow removal of the spoon from her lips.

Once she swallowed it, she said happily, "No worries. It's delicious! Didn't you bring a spoon?"

She didn't hear him gulp as she greedily scooped another spoonful out of the carton and shoved it into her mouth, the loose fabric around her slipping to show more tantalizing skin.

There was a quiet pop as she pulled the spoon from her mouth, and it made its way back into the carton. She separated a decent sized chuck of the white and brown dessert and held it up to him.

"Go on," she ushered, "I promise you it'll make your taste buds _soar_!" she giggled, and she couldn't comprehend why she was suddenly so giddy and happy.

Ice cream usually didn't make her feel this way, like she was intoxicated.

Her emerald eyes locked with his smoky black ones, and all he could say were the words, "I'm sorry."

Before Sakura could ask why he would say something like that, his face was shockingly close to hers, and there was a heavy pressure on her mouth. The spoon in her hand dropped and clattered atop the carton in her lap and she made a sound from the surprise of the situation.

Kisame's hand was grasping her chin, pulling her head closer, tighter to him. Her senses were suffocating, and the moment she groaned in distress, he deepened the kiss, stealing any breath she had straight away from her like the criminal he was. He could taste the lingering flavor of the ice cream in her mouth.

Her fingers latched onto his shirt, fingers twisting the material and, to his absolute astonishment, pulled him closer to her, the ice cream on her lap now forgotten. Her lips moved against his sweetly, like teenagers experiencing their first kisses ever, like the ice cream she had just eaten.

Tender and slow with that hint of clumsiness, neither of the two had done this is such a long time it was almost foreign, and forget about the fact that they were enemies, and that he had been lying to her from the get-go. It made no sense to her, but kisses were meant to do that, and this felt so wrong and so perfect all at once.

With his fingers twisting in her soft hair, she snaked her arms up, one around his neck, the other keeping her hand against his cheek. She bumped his nose with hers as she angled her mouth differently, trying to find that perfect direction that would make this kiss all that much better.

His other hand brushed over her exposed skin, tracing her risen collarbone and the soft texture she had. Over the curve of her shoulder, pushing the fabric aside and she was letting him, too into his delicious kisses to care that something more than inappropriate was just over the horizon.

There was an abrupt knock on the door that forced them apart suddenly, and as it opened, she shoved Kisame off of her and back into his normal spot on the absolute edge of the bed, all the while snatching up her fallen sleeve. With the two sucking in air in failing attempts to calm their irregular breathing, Deidara's appearance in the room was nothing more than a poor reminder of the severity of their actions and the guilt that would eat away at them for days.

Sakura realized she had two strikes against her in that he had been an enemy and she was still in mourning of Kakashi. If her Inner Self wanted to make any appearance anytime soon, she would most likely say that he had been helping her cope by making her move on, or something stupid and entirely irrational like that.

With her fingers hurriedly fixing her hair, she didn't miss the accusing look Deidara gave to both her and Kisame. He cleared his throat and pointed to the ice cream carton lying sideways on her lap, just beginning to melt.

"I'm going to pretend that I didn't just walk in on something the two of you shouldn't have been doing…yeah," the blond said with a tight voice. "You may want to fix the carton before you're covered in the ice cream."

Sakura's and Kisame's gazes immediately moved down to the draining ice cream in her lap.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, reaching down to clear the cold carton up, completely missing the deadliest glare Deidara would ever give, aimed straight at Kisame.

Kisame, however, had to agree with Sakura. The ice cream _had_ made his taste buds soar.

* * *

-_Hoshigaki, Kisame_

_Age: 19_

_Height: cm_

_Weight: 90.7 kg_

_Birthday:_

_Blood type: _

_Bloodline Ability: None_

_Arrived in critical condition. Pein told me to open an account for him under special circumstances of Kisame's survival. His injuries include:_

_5 broken ribs  
Broken left wrist  
Broken right arm  
Dislocated right shoulder  
Shattered femurs  
Fractured left tibia  
Partially severed right foot  
Concussion  
Broken nose  
Missing 6 teeth (replacements seem to be growing back)  
Sword wound, diagonal, to chest  
Sword wound, horizontal, to stomach  
Animal bite marks on back-_

Sakura had to take in multiple deep breaths in order to cope with the material she was reading about Kisame. She felt afraid as she read through the folder that with the injuries listed, he'd have already died. Another thought she had was along the lines of how he'd managed to survive long enough to get to the base with all those injuries and the massive bleeding he'd have to have experienced at the time.

She scanned over the rest of the folder and only found that there had been a brief experimentation of Kisame after he was well when he first started at the Akatsuki, but there was no record of his reasoning for joining the criminal organization. She felt disappointed with this, but knew that if Itachi's records were anything to base an opinion off of, then the rest of the records would most likely end up being the same.

With a sigh, she made notes in her notebook about Kisame's injuries. She would need to question him about them later and ask him what the medic had done to heal him or if he had Isonade's power beforehand, and it had simply decreased the longer he was alive.

She reached for Deidara's folder next, and flipped it open, taking in the image of a much younger looking, much more masculine Deidara. She stifled her laughter and began to read, not feeling the need to pay much attention since he wasn't a key element in her research.

_-Deidara_

_Age: 17_

_Height: cm_

_Weight: 73.3 kg_

_Birthday:_

_Blood type: _

_Bloodline Ability: Unsure_

_Has a single mouth on the palm of each hand. Doesn't seem to remember anything about what happened from his home, just the name. I'm prescribing him doses of anti-psychotics to see if anything changes.-_

'Well _that_ certainly wasn't something I was expecting to see,' Sakura thought to herself in surprise.

They had put the hyperactive blond on anti-psychotics? If he hadn't been taking them, or he stopped taking them, that would explain why she never saw anything in his blood. She skimmed over the rest of the profile, and concluding there was nothing there she could use except for the anti-psychotics, she marked that down in his section of her notebook and closed the folder. Today really wasn't helpful at all in this area of research.

She found her thoughts fighting between the more recent memories of her little make-out session with Kisame and the events that occurred a few days before with Sasuke, Itachi, and Kabuto. Surprisingly, her mind skipped over Kisame and went straight for the other experience.

Ever since that day there had been something eating at her mind, but she hadn't had time to act on it what with the multitude of occurrences since then. Sasuke and Itachi had _never_ been that civil, not even when they were kids, she was sure. And Kabuto had been walking around,_snooping_, and near her room, too, which she still had yet to completely comprehend the reasoning behind.

Sasuke and Kabuto, both of whom worked for Orochimaru, were there and present, but Orochimaru wasn't. He wasn't there as far as she could tell. Sasuke had yet to kill one of his "best friends" so he had failed to maintain the highest form of the Sharingan. Perhaps he had been discussing alternate ways of getting the Mangekyo with Itachi?

'Hah, right, like _that_ would ever happen.'

Although, now that she was thinking back, she could remember Itachi having admitted to taking Kakashi's Sharingan, so perhaps Orochimaru was now walking around with Kakashi's eye in place of one of his golden ones? And Itachi could have traded it for Sasuke's cooperation? And Orochimaru would…become close with Akatsuki again?

Shivers and nausea followed that thought process, and Sakura knew that it was more likely to happen than any other theory she'd come up with so far.

But then again, maybe Itachi hadn't actually been the one who attacked Kakashi. What if Sasuke had just looked so much like his brother to the team, so much different than his old self, that they had _mistaken_ him for Itachi?

'Ugh, this is giving me a headache. Why can't _you_ be here and show up for once! When I don't want you here, you bug me when you know I can't tune you out, but when I _want_ you here, nope, silence!'

Yes, more silence was her response, and she groaned and continued with her thoughts because, well she couldn't very well stop, now could she?

So _if_ Sasuke had pretended to be Itachi, or passed off as him, then maybe he stole the Sharingan to give to Orochimaru? Honestly, he knew he was giving his body away when he'd started training with him. Why wouldn't he just pull off creating a new Kakashi? Kakashi had all the abilities Itachi had, minus the staying awake after using it, but he could still pull it off. And Kabuto would probably know how to fix the exhaustion from over-using it, right?

'But would Orochimaru _go_ for that?'

Her stomach growled, forcing her to remember she hadn't eaten anything other than a few bites of ice cream in a few days. With a sigh, she shuffled the folders together, got to her feet, and headed for the exit to her lab, depositing the folders on her table as she walked.

Making it out of the door, she crossed the hallway and into the kitchen. She could smell rice cooking in the pot and she could see some sort of frozen vegetable and meat blend defrosting in a pan as Sasori stirred it.

She remembered what she had said to Kisame earlier before he had kissed her –she also made sure to completely avoid his gaze which he appeared to be doing with her- and decided that she wouldn't get the proper nutrition she needed if she kept eating this frozen garbage.

With one more sigh, she walked up to the stove where Sasori was stirring the vegetables and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked down at her, that same empty look he'd had when she first met him, and raised a brow in question of her intentions.

"I'm cooking, so move," she ordered.

"Why would you do something like that?" he retorted, continuing to mix the veggies in the pan.

She huffed and took the spoon from his hand.

"I'm getting sick of eating frozen meals. They'll catch up with you eventually and damage your systems, and they aren't particularly good for you," she explained.

He shrugged in response and said, "I don't eat this stuff anyways. I have no need to."

She glared at him and replied, "Then stop trying to prevent me from cooking. You may not need it, but since I do a hell of a lot more work than any of you do, I'm telling you that I need sufficient meals, not this-" she pointed at the pan where the veggies had begun sizzling, "-garbage because you all have zero cooking skills."

"Pinky, are you even up to doing something like that?" Deidara asked quietly. "Yeah?"

Sakura nodded and Sasori went to sit down.

"Means less work for me to do," he settled.

Sakura began to scavenge the fridge for usable items, and within minutes she was in the process of making a _real_ meal, one she could benefit from, and one the others would eat without worrying about how bad the food tasted. When everyone had been served, and they had all started eating, they came to a unanimous agreement that, on top of Sakura's medical responsibilities, she would also cook two of the three meals a day.

'Honestly, I can't understand how I get myself into these things.'

* * *

Next Chapter: Kisame and Sakura have a repeat of their first "romantic" encounter. Sakura discovers the missing page from the mythology book and uncovers a few more secrets concerning our dearest Itachi.

Once again, I apologize for taking so long. I kept getting reviews and I felt bad for not updating and letting you all down, but I simply couldn't bring myself to write. I read them all and wanted to, tried to, but the weight of the situations I was dealing with weren't allowing me to provide anything. However, I don't even think this chapter would've been posted if it hadn't had been for the e-mail I received a little while ago from one of you guys. It said:

**all of your fans really love your fanfics!  
we just sad that you stopped...  
we came to tell you happy LATE 4 july!  
be happy k?  
from steph (not a crazed fan)  
Ja ne!**

I was seriously on the brink of tears from the message despite the simple structure and wording of it from reading it once. While some people may find it stupid that someone actually bothered to send something like that to me, it touched me in a way that managed to force me out of my depression long enough to write this chapter and to post it. I stayed up all night writing some more and well into the day, making sure it was good enough because there was NO WAY I was going to post some crappy little piece telling everyone it was my best on short notice when I know I could do better. However, the block returned and I hated that I couldn't keep going.

But now, here it is, and I apologize from levels you can't even imagine exist.

I sincerely want to thank all of you for reviewing and reading and not giving up on me and giving me the support I needed. No words can come close to expressing how much it all meant to me, so I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

I can't promise I will finish this story _soon_, but I CAN promise that I _will_ finish this story.

On a lighter note –or more depressing note, it's about this chapter either way- I want to explain a bit about the pills and Sakura's reaction to her surroundings. No, she was NOT under genjutsu. She was hallucinating. People tend to suffer from hallucinations when they fall victim to certain levels of trauma or become severely depressed. Sakura has taken both of those onto her plate due to Kakashi's death but with the additional pressure from Itachi's behavior and her current situation, nothing has made it better. Medication is often prescribed alongside therapy in order to dispel the images and/or feelings.

**Thanks to the following for reviewing: ****The Perverted Hermit****Chryseis Wyvernsen****SakuraHatake****Raefire****SweetAssassin****Lady Light****Sailor Tiamat****aznmelon****Skitzoflame****ecla****, Angelwings22, ****xxxSethKisaraxxx****Siy****Heartless Ghostie****, Manipulated Insanity, ****Rhonda21****psycotic-angel123****kakashisninjadogs****inuyashaHELP****, Iwuvgarra, ****MistressBlossom****Beating Heart Baby-face****, twistedchild, ****pretty cherry****xXSakakiXx****Sugar and Cinnamon****, Birdy Main, ****Serenity Fey****Twisted Spark****silver-geisha****Marsgoddess1****o0Dreamer0o****VixenOfDeath809****Gabriel99****MikariStar****, SpeedDmeon315, ****lions9892****Miakoda13****Akatsuki210****, anonymous, ****Virginia-Lauren****, Orihime-Girl, ****Teslyn****AriaOfChaos****, Mystery, Sandy, rvndancer, ****KakumeiKid****darkangel211101****Sekiryu****Namida Drop****ayaka kurusugawa****, Wel Zen Fucked a hoe, ****Sharem****Ekatereana****Lady Lark****Coeur Casse****xcgirl08****, TheCopperRose, katya, ****Talleh****Shadeslayer390****XxHotBloodySirenxX****selandora****Goatis****GaaraSakura Luvers 4Evah****aGreatPenName****, WalkinButterfly, ****Shirox****Sunset Sky****Shadow Quil****crimson-nightwind****, sakura-rocks106761, ****TheGypsyGirl****Synogiok****Heartfelt Dream****, Leslie, ****Gaarazlilmiss****XlovelessandlostX****, and ****Squirrel-of-Emoness**

Backlash Symphony


	9. Arc 1: Liquid Confidence

Story Title: Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter Title: 9. Liquid Confidence

Chapter 9 of 11

Arc 1 of 4

Pairing: ItachiSakuraKisame

Rating: M (Swearing, Later chapters)

Author: Backlash Symphony

Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More specifically, Kisame.ItaSakuKis

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own Naruto.

Extra: Tsunade tends to be the bad guy in most of my stories, but honestly I love her to pieces because she made Sakura as strong as she is. But hey, somebody's got to do it, right? So here's the next chapter, a little more romance (not much detail since it's not exceptionally important to this chapter), a little more hintage of the upcoming plot twist, and some more info on our mystery page. Read on, story lovers, read on!

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke: 20

Itachi, Kabuto: 26

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade: 58

Text means normal writing.

'Text' means thoughts.

_'Text' _means Inner Sakura's thoughts.

**Text** means flashback.

-_Text_- means something written.

* * *

Two million, four hundred and nineteen thousand, two hundred seconds. 

One hundred thousand, eight hundred minutes.

Six hundred and seventy-two hours.

Twenty-eight days.

Four weeks.

_One_ month.

_One_ **month**.

One month was the total of her imprisonment so far. One of twenty four months completed in this place that was more than Hell could ever beg and pretend to be worse than, because even on the Devil's worst day, he couldn't beat what Sakura had already been through in her single month here with the Akatsuki.

She recounted the events in her head while she busied her hands with dishes from that day's lunch. Technically, she was on month one, day two, but who was counting?

She'd fought Kisame and brutally insulted Itachi more than once, and not to mention the fact that she'd fought with Itachi more than once, also. Add in the Kabuto incident and catching Sasuke with Itachi, the whole Mangekyo experience, and she'd had enough to keep her in bed for another week, but the _fun_ still didn't end. Combine those horrific tests with Itachi and one of her Kakashi-Trauma Episodes with her absence of her inner self and she could definitely say she'd be more than willing to go home and stay there forever. And that kiss. But she wasn't going to even be_gin_ to go there.

She dried the last plate in her hands and set it aside with a heavy, drawn out sigh. She was gong to die before she was twenty-one if this kept up.

'Wait, didn't I turn 21 this year?'

This question was followed by some more math and Sakura nodded, yes, she had turned 21 this year. She had turned 21 a few months before, during her mourning period.

'Which explains why I didn't remember if I turned 21 or not. So I'm already in the beginning of June, just lovely. The asshole's day of birth will be in eight days.'

Sakura's eyes slid shut and she nearly collapsed with the irony of the situation. Typical, she'd be stuck doing something for his birthday. She could already picture him waltzing down to breakfast and holding a skimpy leather outfit in his hands, commanding she put it on. She shivered at the thought and had to hold back the nausea in her stomach.

"Oh God, please let me miss it or have him be gone," she prayed, hand splayed across her stomach.

Sakura jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She had to bite down on her tongue to keep from screaming. Abruptly turning on her heel, she knocked the hand off of her shoulder and glared at the towering figure behind her.

"Deidara, what have I told you about sneaking up on me?" she growled at him.

Ignoring the exhaustion that crept through her words, the blonde shrugged and gave a grin that made Naruto look depressed.

"You looked like you were working in auto-pilot, yeah," he explained. "I figured I would help you with the dishes, yeah."

Sakura picked up the plate she'd just put down and waved it in front of Deidara's grinning features with a smirk of her own.

"Just finished the last one, _yeah_," Sakura announced, raising her brows to emphasize the last word she spoke.

Deidara's face contorted with mild irritation and Sakura let out a soft giggle, nose scrunching. She pressed the dried plate to Deidara's red and black cloak-clad chest and stepped around him, surveying the otherwise empty kitchen on her way to the exit.

"Wait a second, Pinky…yeah," Deidara said suddenly, and before she could turn to look at him he was standing directly in front of her, the plate gone from his hands which were now gripping her upper arms.

"What is it, Deidara?" she responded, her tone betraying her lack of sleep.

All she wanted to do was finish her work for the day and go to sleep. She had already cooked her two meals of the day. She deserved a little rest, right?

'Unless karma decides to be a bitch. AGAIN,' she thought grudgingly.

"Oh, well, you see…I was kind of…yeah, hoping we could spend some time together today…yeah? You can get back to work a bit later, yeah!" he exclaimed, overly enthusiastic to the point that Sakura wanted nothing more than to sock him one right in the face.

"And how is that supposed to appeal to me?" she countered, irritated, as she shook his hands from her arms. "If you'll excuse me, I have work to-"

"But we'll do something you want! Yeah! We can go train! I know you haven't trained in a while, right? Yeah! Or I can get you some new books to read, like this really cool fantasy book about this heroine who falls for the enemy leader of another country when she's kidnapped and it turns out she's just as strong as he is and they're-"

"What part of 'I have _work to complete_' _don't_ you understand!" Sakura snapped, glaring harshly at him as he moved in front of her again, blocking her way out of the kitchen.

"Um, well Sakura, you should probably get some rest seeing as how you've worked yourself too hard th-"

"Deidara, I swear to GOD if you don't move out of my way I'll punch you so hard every person in this complex will pass out when you do," she threatened, fist looming in the air.

She was closing in on him and he was stepping back. His attempts of making her calm down were to simply hold his hands in front of him and keep talking to her.

"Now, now, Sakura, don't get too hasty, yeah!" he whispered frantically, backing up some more as she drew her fist back.

"If you don't get out of my way I'm going to-"

"Be logical, Sakura, don't do this ye_aaahh!_"

The blonde man ducked down as a fist barely whizzed over his head. The pissed rosette-haired woman took her chance and maneuvered around Deidara's huddled body and jogged for the door across the hall that would lead her to her lab and that horrendous work she would finish before she'd catch some well-deserved sleep on her relatively comfortable mattress.

Her hand circled the door handle and she managed to open it a few inches before a very masculine hand slammed the door shut. She jumped, startled, and then turned to look at the panicked features of Deidara.

"S-Sakura, you shouldn't be so violent, yeah," he nervously stated, and Sakura simply gazed at him.

His single visible eye was wide, the blue that was once a deep color slightly paled, his pupil dilated. His skin was paler than his normal tan shade and she could spot the little drops of sweat around his eyebrows and above his lips. From this and his stuttering of her name, she could tell that he was either scared shitless, or keeping one very immense secret that would in the end leave him in a bad position.

Emerald eyes narrowed, she queried, "What exactly is it that you're keeping from me, blondie?"

He opened his mouth to respond but Sakura cut him off quickly.

"And know that I _will_ know if you're lying to me or telling me the truth."

She tried to open the door again but he pushed hard, keeping it shut. Sakura knew that whatever it was that he was afraid of her seeing, it would be found in her lab.

'Looks like I'll need a plan,' she thought.

"Well, nothing that_I'm_ keeping from you, yeah, you're just over-worked, is all, so you must be paranoid, yeah!" Deidara muttered rapidly, then continued. "Which means rest is what you need! And maybe another one of those pills in your bag," he suggested.

"Paranoid like you were when you first started killing here, you mean?" Sakura retorted callously.

The blonde's eyes widened considerably and she felt his strength leave the door.

'Going for it!'

With an additional burst of chakra to her hand, she yanked on the door handle, hard enough that it opened more than a foot and Deidara couldn't close it in time before her eyes took in what had been hiding behind her door. Her shoulders dropped and she slumped forward, barely feeling Deidara's arm encircling her waist to prevent her from falling.

"Tell me I'm seeing things, Deidara," she murmured fearfully, unable to quell the tears building around the rims of her eyes.

"I'm sorry Pinky, yeah, but you're not," he apologized, hoisting her up and gazing over her shoulder at the damage within the walls of her lab.

"All my work, Deidara…all of my _work_!" she gasped, clutching the arm at her waist as if it were her lifeline. "Oh God, I'll have to start from scratch, all those tests and samples…"

She took a shaky step forward, hardly registering where she was going, only that she needed to be inside her lab, to be in the midst of the explosion of items littering her floor. She needed to look at everything, see if anything could be salvaged from the destruction in the only place she felt she had total reign over, total safety from the peering, prodding eyes of _them_.

She felt pieces of glass crunch beneath her sandals, emerald orbs surveying her surroundings with utter grief and distress. Her carefully stacked books were all lying in various positions on the floor and her desk, pages ripped out and scattered amongst the debris of glass shards from shattered test tubes, broken microscopes and stethoscopes, and puddles of coagulating blood mixing with chemicals and ink.

Those notebooks she had so tediously written her meticulous notes and thoughts in were ripped, page by page, some sitting in the puddles of liquids, others sliced by the fallen shards. Some pages were ripped, the rest lying at random about the room. The medical records that had been sitting on the desk were gone, along with nearly half the books that had been on her bookcase before.

All of her work from the past month, down the drain it went. All that hard effort she had given to discovering what Kisame's condition was would no longer have proof, despite the notes she could remember in her head. She would have to start from scratch, deal with Kisame after they had kissed and Itachi after they had fought, and Deidara? Where would she get their medical records again? She would need those, too!

The blonde was silent behind her, still waiting at the door and simply watching as Sakura nearly stumbled through the room, picking remains up and dropping them after inspecting them. She treated her things like human remains, with care and concern and _feeling_, as if the glass shards could tell that Sakura was upset that they were broken and could never be fixed again.

He watched as the younger woman bent down and began to pick up pieces of a ripped page, slowly, painfully.

'She didn't even make the mess and she's cleaning it up, yeah,' Deidara thought with something akin to respect flaring in his chest.

Minutes went by and he thought about offering to help her; suggesting that she should go rest; discuss that evening's meal since it was his turn to cook and he wanted to know what she'd like to eat. Nothing came out, though. He remained silent, studying her slender form move to gather shredded papers in one pile and glass remains in another pile. The areas where substances were spilled she left alone, working inch by inch with grace and care, with honest respect for items that never felt, nor would ever feel.

He would never, _ever_, admit to anyone, but the sight he was witnessing had to be the most beautiful and _painful_ he'd ever experienced.

He wasn't ignorant enough to believe Sakura was mourning for broken pieces. He understood that one month's worth of work was destroyed, never to be seen again. He knew that she would go back to the beginning. She would have to deal with Itachi all over again. He knew, by _God_, he _knew_, and he couldn't stand the knowledge he had.

He observed as Sakura crawled forward to the corner of her desk to begin sorting piles out there, but he saw the expression on her face change from one of mourning to one of curiosity and disbelief. His eyes narrowed simultaneously as hers did, and at that very moment he knew the words that would come out of her mouth when she next spoke to him. Her trembling fingers snatched a thread-like hair from a pile of papers, and the color, she knew, wasn't hers, nor was it one that belonged to any other person in the Akatsuki.

She rose smoothly to her feet, clutching the tiny hair tightly between her fingertips, making sure that little piece of evidence she had didn't stray, because she'd be _damned_ if she let that bastard get away with something like _this_!

'I KNEW that rat was looking for something!!' she screeched in her head, twisting on her heel and stalking towards the door where Deidara stood.

"Sakura-"

"Where's that_asshole Uchiha_!" Sakura seethed.

"Sakura, calm dow-"

"Don't you _fucking tell me to calm down!_" she hollered, giving the hardest of shoves to the blonde, nearly making him fall backwards had he not grasped onto the doorframe for balance. "Where is he?"

Deidara struggled to come up with something to say that would calm the woman's nerves, but nothing appeared in his head. He couldn't tell her where he was, either, for Itachi had been gone since that morning in a meeting, and she wasn't supposed to know that, at _all_ costs.

"You _knew_ my lab was like this, you _knew_!" she bawled, shoving him again. "And you were trying to keep me away! Why the fuck would you do something like that, I wonder?" She shoved him harder, and this time he _did_ fall.

"Sakura-"

"Useless, _worthless_ bunch of you, _**all of you**_!!"

The blonde winced at her loud voice and attempted to stand but Sakura wouldn't settle for it. She thrust his shoulder backwards, causing him to fall once again. Then she gathered her chakra in her main focus points and let it take care of the rest. If Deidara wouldn't tell her where the Uchiha was, then she would use her skills to find out, because that monster was in for a heavy pummeling when she found him.

The threads of her chakra surrounded her before they darted out in every possible direction, each connected to a sensor that would link her to Itachi's form should one of them run into him.

Those sensors were slithering through walls and up the stairs, dissecting every little thing they came across in the hopes to find the object that would soon discover that the wrath of Sakura Haruno was _not_ something to be toyed with, _especially_ in the state she was already in.

'Come on, come _on_, where are you, you son of a bitch…GOT YOU!'

One of her threads sent waves of alarm back to her body, alerting her of his presence on the upper level. She summoned the remainder of her chakra threads into her body and raced up the stairs, clenching the silver hair in her hand, following the final thread that would take her to _him_.

The familiar hallway was a blur to her peripheral vision as she dashed down it, taking a short right that brought her to a door beyond which she could sense the chakras of three separate people. She slammed her fist into the wooden door, sending it bursting open.

"Found you, you son of a bitch," Sakura growled, striding through the doorway, evidence held safely in her palm.

The room was one with a simple table and enough chairs to fit at least a dozen people. Two of those chairs were occupied by a talking Sasuke Uchiha and ill-looking Itachi Uchiha, and the latter of the two was looking exceptionally pissed off at the unwanted interruption. When Sakura's hand descended upon the tabletop, the whole room shook and the two men thought momentarily that the table would snap into pieces from the sheer force Sakura subjected it to.

"What is that you wan-"

"You fucking crossed the line this time, you fucking _liar_!" Sakura furiously exclaimed. "'Your business is with medicine. My business is with Kabuto and Sasuke. That means you stay out of _my_ business, and we're all happy, got it?' Does that sound fucking familiar, you cheapskate son of a bitch?" she reminded the elder Uchiha.

"If all you had to say to me was _that_, then I don't want to see you until I expressly call for you," Itachi said with a tone of absolute annoyance and fury.

"Oh no, you aren't getting out of this that easily. You don't send that ass-kissing bastard into _my_ lab and have him destroy everything I've been working on and then expect me to start from scratch without so much as a _word_ about how it happened to get that way," Sakura cried out, voice escalating with each sentence.

"The lab was destroyed?" Itachi asked in curiosity.

"Don't fucking play with me, Uchiha! You said my job was to stick to medicine, yours was to stick to Kabuto, and I planned to abide by those wishes up until the point where you decided to cross into _my_ section of the deal and meddle with things that _don't concern either of you!_"

Itachi's eyes narrowed severely, to near slits of pulsing crimson aimed with the intent to kill towards Sakura's person. He swiftly stood, his towering form intimidating to none in the room over Sakura's flourishing fury. He took calculated steps towards her trembling body, never once pulling his gaze from hers.

"You _dare_ to accuse Kabuto-"

She slammed her hand onto the table once again and the crack that resounded throughout the room had Sasuke rising to his feet a few yards from her. She removed her hand and pointed down at the shining strand of silver-grey hair lying innocently on the tabletop.

"I'll _dare_ when I've got the evidence to prove that sneaky little bitch was in_my lab_!!"

Two sets of Sharingan eyes flickered towards the shimmering hair on the table before moving back to Sakura's heavily breathing form.

"Hidan has-"

"Hair too short to have produced _that_ and is closer to white than grey, Uchiha," she countered defensively. "Do you understand that by sending him to destroy all of my work, I now have reason to believe not only that you're trying to prevent me from finding something out, but that by making a deal with me under false pretenses you are voiding our agreement?" she snarled as sweat began to build at her brow. "Quite frankly, I don't think you seem to comprehend that by these little pranks you keep pulling to throw me off course, you're only damaging yourself in the long run."

The only noise in the room after that were the sound of Sakura's heavy breaths, and despite her grave accusations, she still had yet to finish.

"Believe me when I tell you that I _will_ figure out what it is that you're hiding from me. I _will_ get you caught in a lie. I _will_ get all that information you had destroyed returned properly, and be_lieve me_, Uchiha," Sakura paused, gauging his reaction as she prepared her words, "I _will_ prove you _wrong_."

The tense air between them was tangible, and Sakura felt that she only had one final sentence to say to him before she went to her room for some well-_well-_well-deserved sleep.

"If you pull one more of these, then our deal is officially null and void, and you can kiss my ass goodbye and find yourself a new medic."

The pink-haired woman was sending one final glare towards the elder Uchiha, who cocked his head slightly, before she made to turn and exit the room. She was out of the room before Itachi or Sasuke could make any remarks about her behavior.

Sasuke turned to look at Itachi, registering the intensity of his gaze in Sakura's direction. He chanced a look at the hair on the table and felt a small smirk of triumph cross his lips.

* * *

Sakura could feel his presence beside her bed the moment he had appeared in her room. Had this been any other time when she was younger, she would've enjoyed him being there, but now that she had outgrown her feelings for his emotionless self and moved on, the only wish she had concerning him was that he get out and leave her to her rest. 

"Get out of my room, Sasuke," Sakura muttered in a tone of authority, snuggling into her sheets more deeply, craving the warmth they offered her.

When she felt the bed dip with an additional weight, she knew that karma had decided to butt in where she didn't belong and prolong her precious sleep. Sasuke also hadn't figured out that the world _didn't_ revolve around him, either.

'What good is Orochimaru for, then, if he couldn't even teach him such a simple little thing?' she thought, snickering in her head.

"What, you don't miss me, Sakura?"

The humor in his voice –she would hardly call it that considering how little of it there was- didn't go unnoticed by Sakura. She twisted in the sheets, flopping unceremoniously onto her other side so she could face Sasuke and set him with a look of complete irritation.

"No more than I'd miss a poisoned wound," she deadpanned. "Now, do me a favor and get out of my room. I'm tired, and people who are tired sleep, and if you don't let _this_ woman sleep, you'll be lucky if you get out of that door with everything intact, and since we both know how much Sasuke Jr means to you, I'd suggest a very hasty getting out, don't you agree?"

Sasuke, disgruntled at her comment about his 'family jewels', crossed his legs protectively and went back to talking to her.

"You've changed a lot since we were teens."

"Oh _God_, Sasuke, just get out!" Sakura cried, snatching her pillow and sitting up. "Reminisce later, let me sleep _**now**_!"

She began swatting at him with the pillow, aiming to smack him right in the face, but before she could get a decent swing in, he caught the fluffy object and held it in place. Sakura glowered at him, still half-asleep. However, she dropped the pillow immediately when his fingers brushed across her own. She wasted no time in kicking the blankets from her body and standing beside the bed, eyeing him with brewing anger and recovering hatred as her sleepiness reversed and converted her into a fully alert, fully pissed, medic.

"Just what was _that_?" she snarled.

Sasuke rose to his full height, straightening the white robes he wore that opened to expose a glimpse of his chiseled upper body.

'Looks like he's been spending too much time with Hidan.'

"What was _what_?" he asked, sparing a few moments to glance appreciatively at her pajama-clad body.

That look _definitely_ didn't go unnoticed by the rosette-haired woman who immediately began to regret wearing thin-strapped tank tops and girl boxers to sleep in. Just like she was under the impression of her lab being her safe haven, her room was nothing more than a room to be broken into. How she let herself believe _anywhere_ in this cursed complex was safe was utterly beyond her comprehension at that moment.

She simply hoped that the heat she felt on her skin was due to Sasuke's gaze and not her own embarrassment. Hell, she could fight the Akatsuki and survive. She could solve rubix cubes in mere minutes. She could heal a fully mutilated body in under two hours. She was Sakura Haruno, former apprentice of the current hokage. She could _handle_ a glance of appreciation of her body from the man who she had believed to be gay once she initially got over him due to his lack of interest in the female population.

However, karma be damned, if he tried _anything _she would hurt him where it really counted.

But God did she wish she had pants on, at least. It would make her feel safer, it honestly would.

"You could, you know, stop staring at my body like you've never seen a woman before?" Sakura suggested, crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to give her some much-needed warmth.

She wouldn't admit that she had looked at him at least once, but with a woman looking at a man's upper body, it was different. Women didn't look at men's naked legs and exposed waists for any reason near identical to the reasons why men gazed at those spots on women.

When his onyx eyes slid back up to match with her jade ones, she could see that what he had been doing was simply an introduction to something exceptionally serious, something she wasn't sure applied to Sasuke Jr or something else. Regardless, the weighted look in his eyes was more than enough to tell her she needed to keep her guard up.

"It's been a long time since we were 15," he explained, beginning to walk around the perimeter of the bed. "We've matured, changed, advanced. You look like someone who I would bother my time with. You have strength you severely lacked when we were younger. You have maturity that is overly becoming."

"Sasuke, if this is some sort of prelude to wooing me into letting you get into my pants so you can revive your clan, then I'll have to stop you where you are," Sakura hurriedly stated, keeping in mind the close proximity Sasuke was beginning to get to her. "In case you've forgotten, I already married Kakashi and my feelings for you are _completely_ gone. I grew out of it, and I'm not the type of woman who believes in one-night stands, either."

'And if he gets any closer, I'm going to be against that wall. Shit!'

Sakura sidestepped and began to walk back, continuing to talk to Sasuke in the hopes to avert his attention to her lack of interest. He simply followed after her, however, like some hungry puppy that could smell the food in a person's bag.

"Apparently you've become a little more self-centered in our time apart," Sasuke remarked.

Huffing indignantly, Sakura stared angrily at Sasuke.

"And apparently, our time apart hasn't dulled your egotism one bit," she countered. "Before we get on the wrong track again, what is it that you actually want with me? I know that the snake must be missing you terribly, and I'm sure Kabuto is wreaking havoc, as usual. Shouldn't you be meeting with Itachi or something?"

"I would've been if you hadn't barged in and interrupted us. Now he's off somewhere with Kabuto, probably talking to him about patience and plans," Sasuke explained.

Sakura rolled her eyes and said, "That asshole thinks he can get away with everything but he's just a selfish bastard with nothing better to do than make people's lives miserable."

A smirk crossed Sasuke's features and he let out a short, low chuckle.

"Now you can get some understanding regarding what I've been talking about."

Sakura stared at Sasuke for a few moments before she shook her head.

"No, actually, not in the slightest. He killed your family. He killed-" Sakura paused, remembering the theory she'd had about Sasuke being the murderer of Kakashi. "He only forced me to make a deal with him to work with him."

"I could've sworn he'd killed Kakashi, however," he mused, his tone expressing that he was baiting Sakura.

She scrunched her nose in annoyance and started to rub her arms.

"I don't have enough evidence to prove that yet. While I was told he was the one, and he admitted to doing it, I'm still seeing…other possibilities."

Sasuke stepped closer to her and Sakura stood her ground. A thought crossed her mind that he was trying to intimidate her out of information, but he had crossed into territory he knew better than she did. This was only proving he knew something about Kakashi's death which was a plus for her.

"Other possibilities? Such as?"

Sakura paused again before saying, "Other possibilities." Before Sasuke could say anything else, she continued. "Are you here to interrogate me about Kakashi or did you have something you actually wanted?"

"When did you become so perceptive?"

Sakura scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"When did _you_ become all buddy-buddy with the man you swore you would kill?"

Sasuke looked down at the ground, seemingly contemplating the question. Minutes of silence swept by, Sakura still on guard, still thinking about her situation and possible questions she could get away with asking and having answered.

"I've got nothing to worry about," he spoke finally, tilting his gaze up to Sakura's eyes. "My brother is…not himself anymore."

And the way he spoke those words sent shivers throughout her body. The way he held her eyes with intensity told her there was more to his words than he let on and he didn't intend to share with her what that other meaning was.

Narrowing her eyes, she noted, "Any normal person could see that he's got severe personality issues, possibly even schizophrenia, so yeah, he's definitely not himself anymore, I've noticed."

"His birthday is coming up, so be alert. He'll need some time to himself."

"Wait, what?"

Sasuke nodded to her, bidding her goodbye, and made his way to the door.

"Hey, where do you think you're going!" Sakura cried out, chasing after him.

His hand on the doorknob was knocked off by hers as she spun him around, planting his back roughly against the wall beside the door and holding him there with one hand around his wrist and the other pressed against his chest. He looked down at her with disinterest but he didn't try to get out of her hold.

"You don't just come in here and prevent me from my sleep and then leave after giving me these stupid cryptic messages to figure out!" She shook him slightly. "You're just like your damn br-"

"Sakura?" a voice called out from the other side of the door.

She jerked her head to look at the door and released Sasuke's wrist, turning the knob so the door would open. Deidara stood there, a guilty look plastered on his face. Sakura suppressed her anger and pulled away from Sasuke, motioning for him to leave.

"I'll be seeing you again, Sakura," he said matter-of-factly before he brushed past Deidara on his way down the hall.

"No, Sasuke, you won't," she whispered, inhaling deeply to deter her remaining emotions.

She turned her gaze to Deidara and said derisively, "I'm going to go to sleep. Talk to me in the morning," and she slammed the door in his face.

* * *

Breakfast had a pleasant absence that morning. There was no Itachi sitting at the table and Sasuke's presence seemed to have disappeared entirely. Deidara and Kisame were the only two at the table who put Sakura's nerves to the test, but she would clean her lab later and get as much information back as she could without thinking about the two of them or Sasuke's half-assed attempts at scaring her. 

She left her dishes in the sink and left the kitchen, preparing herself for the destruction that was her lab. As she entered the room, a tiny part of her imagined the lab to be entirely cleaned and as normal as it was before it had been destroyed, but the scene she found reminded her that such fantasies were for fairy tales and the mentally disturbed.

She shut and locked her door behind her, knowing she would skip lunch and spend the rest of the day cleaning and organizing the remnants of her hard work. With a sigh, she decided she would continue from where she had left off the day before.

Stepping over shattered glass and paper scraps, she settled herself on the ground at the corner of her desk and began sorting through the debris as she had the previous day. Glass went to her left, paper went to her right. She was determined, more than any other time in her life, to figure out what the meaning was behind the occurrences at this place.

'I will figure this out. I _swear_ it.'

She finished quickly with that area and continued to shuffle across the room, foot by foot, separating glass from papers from chemicals. She dismissed Deidara's call for lunch and about an hour later, she had completely cleared all the broken shards and pieces of equipment, disposing them into a trash can that she had covered with a few trash bags and a layer of duct tape. She had washed the floor and counters, scrubbed the tables of chemicals and ink and blood, and rinsed everything that was salvageable, leaving them to dry on a rack next to the sink.

Surveying the room one final time, she dropped her rag into the sink and sighed in relief. Everything was clean and despite the lack of objects that once filled the space, it was comforting. With another sigh, she walked over to the table and began sorting through her shredded papers. It would take a while, but she would piece each section back together and get her data back.

It would have been easier to just ask Itachi for his copies of her notes and make more copies of them, but she was going to do this the right way. She was going to win this little game he had started, and she wouldn't rely on him to assist her in any way.

She dragged a chair and a roll of tape from the desk to the table and sat down, continuing to slowly but surely reconnect the pieces of the pages like an intricate puzzle. She could remember the layout of over a good two thirds of the notes she'd kept, and putting pages together wasn't hard compared to finding the pieces that would fit.

Pieces with straight edges were sent into one pile, fastened together if they matched by a piece of the clear tape. Once she had the borders completed, she worked on filling the whole picture in. Soon she had a stack of papers, horridly crumpled and wrinkled, but whole sheets of tape-connected pages were sitting beside her.

By sight of the small pile of pieces left, she figured she would only need another twenty minutes or so to completely finish this puzzle, and as she moved to start sifting through those pieces, a knock resounded throughout the room. Sakura vaguely recalled the time and realized, to her dismay, that she would have to take a break and go cook dinner before she could finish this project.

"I know, I'm coming," she called out, and she rose, stretched, and stiffly stalked to the door.

She knew that no one would dare come in without her kicking their ass, but that didn't stop her from observing the room one final time and burning its image into her head. If anyone touched anything, she would know. She opened the door and locked it once she was out. She made her way into the kitchen and was surprised to see Kisame sitting at the table, reading a book.

"I'm going to start dinner, so…you can stay, if you won't mind the noise," Sakura said awkwardly.

Kisame looked up from his book before dog-earring the page and setting it down.

"Do you mind if I help?" he asked, standing.

"I'm sure you've got other things to do that are more important," Sakura replied, trying not to seem like the utter fool she felt like she was.

'Honestly, get a grip! You've kissed other men before! This isn't any different!'

"This book isn't so important, and I'm sure you've got other things you want to get back to," he explained.

Sakura nodded and then gave him and nervous smile.

"Alright then, as long as you're positive."

She headed for the fridge, opening the door and scanning the insides for her items she would need to prepare the meal. Making a noise of triumph, she snatched a few bowls and a package, clutching them to her chest and stacking some more items atop the ones she had. She nudged the door shut with her foot and set the items on the table.

"Get the rice started for me, would you please, Kisame?" Sakura asked, spreading the food out.

"Sure," she heard him say before the sounds of clinking pans and scratchy rice permeated the kitchen.

She found a cutting board and a knife and began opening the packages and bowls, separating marinated meat and letting it sit in a bowl. She sliced up some vegetables and dipped them into batter, coating them thoroughly. Kisame appeared behind her and started to take the meat and place the strips into a pan. Sakura brought the veggies into a separate pan, placing it atop the flame on the stove.

She moved to the sink to wash her hands and said, "Now we just wait for it all to cook. Will you empty out the dishes and-"

"Already two steps ahead of you," he said, and Sakura glanced over her shoulder to see that the bowls and cutting board were stacked and he was setting the table.

Sakura couldn't hold back the smile that lit up her face. This was something that felt right. This felt comfortable and safe to her, and no matter how she tried to make herself believe this was fake, she knew it wasn't.

"Is something the matter?" Kisame's voice brought her from her thoughts and she abruptly shook her head.

"No, I'm fine."

'Was I staring at him or something?'

Sizzling erupted from the pans as the food cooked and Sakura dried her hands before she helped Kisame with setting the table. The silence, to her, wasn't entirely awkward, but bringing up what had happened, just talking to him regularly, was a difficult thing to do. She wanted to talk with him, but she was afraid that saying it would make it all real. She still wasn't even sure if it was a good thing or not, what had happened.

"Sakura?" Kisame asked, tone soothing to her nerves.

"Yes?" she replied, wishing, _wishing_.

"I think we need to talk about what happened the other day."

'Shit.'

Sakura placed the last bowl she had down, gripping it with both hands. Her eyes seemed to find the tabletop interesting and she bit her lip in unease.

"We're both adults here, Kisame," she explained, not paying much attention to the shuffling of his feet. "We're enemies, and what happened, no matter how wonderful it was, shouldn't have transp-_mmmh!_"

'God, if lips could kill…'

She could imagine him apologizing in his head for kissing her again, but she wasn't going to accept it when he said it out loud. Her fingers released the bowl and ran through his hair, over the sides of his face, his neck, his shoulders, whatever she could grab a hold of, she did. She ignored the part of her that said they shouldn't be doing this, especially when the smells of cooking food were wafting throughout the complex and they were in the middle of the damn kitchen and-

'God, he's not supposed to be able to do this to me…'

But it was over just as quickly as it began and she was stumbling in her mind for words that were irrelevant but she needed to say _something_.

"Kisame- oh, hey Pinky, yeah," Deidara called from the doorway, eyeing the pair that was now separated by yards and breathing faster than they should be for cooking.

"Blondie, sneaking up, we've had this discussion a few times before, I know," Sakura explained, partially breathless and mostly angry at herself for being unable to sense him.

"Right, you've mentioned it before, yeah," he said suspiciously, but kept that grin on his face for support. "What's for dinner, yeah?"

"Lamb, breaded veggies, rice. Call everyone down, will you?" Sakura asked, moving over to the stove to flip the veggies and the strips of lamb.

Kisame was stirring the rice in the pot and she caught, from the corner of her eye, the smirk aimed in her direction. She choked back a laugh and looked away, trying miserably to stifle the blush conquering her cheeks.

"Everyone can smell the food, yeah. They're on their way down, yeah."

"Alright, just take a seat until they get here, then," Sakura said, switching the heat off on the stove and pouring the separate dishes onto plates to set in the center of the table.

Kisame finished with the rice and began spooning it into a large bowl. One by one, the members of the Akatsuki arrived into the kitchen, taking seats and preparing their dishes for their next meal. To Sakura's surprise, Itachi showed up for dinner, but he looked worse than he did the day before.

'Serves him right.'

In the midst of everyone eating, Sakura received compliments on her cooking. She nodded in response but was busy thinking about how she would go about getting the blood samples she had before. She needed to find the medical records, also, and seeing Itachi sitting at the table reminded her of the events in the library.

She knew him using his Sharingan on her had messed her up a bit, leaving her ranting on more than one occasion about difference in the sun being out and the sun having set. The whole experience was bugging her, and the more she pondered on it, the more confused she became. She knew from Kakashi that the whole thing would happen in less than a second while the mind and body thought it took place over the course of 72 hours. It didn't explain why the window showed it being light out when she had first entered his world, and when she came out it had been dark out.

'Unless…would he have done that? But why?'

"Uchiha, I'm going to ask you some questions and I expect you to answer each one honestly," Sakura commanded, placing her chopsticks down and looking over at the ill-appearing man across the table.

She saw his shoulders sag slightly and heard him let out a sigh of annoyance, but she was persistent.

"If it means I won't have to deal with you the rest of the night, so be it," he replied, agitated.

"When was the last time you could see things clearly?"

Itachi's eyes slimmed in a glare at Sakura but he answered, "When I was 23."

Noting that mentally, Sakura continued, "And when your vision was starting to get bad, did using any specific techniques of your Sharingan make immediate damage?"

Itachi nodded slightly, replying, "Mangekyo," while still glaring at her.

Sakura felt her lips quirk up at the corners and she knew her theory was right. By the deadly intent coming from Itachi Sakura knew that he understood she was aware of the actual happenings in the library. He probably already knew her next question.

"And the last time you used the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

He paused, not wanting to answer the question but knowing he didn't have a choice.

"When I was 23."

Sakura nodded to him and stood, gathering her dishes and strolling to the sink to rinse them. After tucking them away on the rack, she walked back to her seat and pushed the chair up against the table.

"I _knew _there was something off about you."

* * *

Sakura wasn't sure what exactly it was that she was seeing. She knew that the paper it was printed on wasn't the paper she used in taking notes. She could see that the printing on the sheet was typed, not hand-written. She saw the words 'no Orochi' printed on the very first line. 

The first thing that popped into her head was 'Yamata no Orochi' which just so happened to be the snake from Japanese mythology, and 'Yamata' was the last word on the page that she'd had from that mythology book.

Her nerves got to her and her anxiety rose, leaving her with a look that was partially a grin, partially wide-eyed in shock. She ripped off a piece of tape from the dispenser and began sifting through pieces of paper in the last pile she had. She matched the 'warrior' to 'from', 'Isonade' to 'Samehada', and some more scattered sentences until she finally had a complete page from the mythology book.

Her fingers trembled as she carefully laid the crinkled sheet flat on the table and began to read.

-_no Orochi. The gods of these earthly subjects battled fiercely and the outcomes of these battles gave name to their  
ranks and strengths which are used in the most modern of our research and societal applications._

_Isonade, the god of water, fell into the sixth place ranking in strength but the seventh place  
ranking for chakra and stamina. His last recorded appearance was of a large shark with three tails and three  
fins. His skin had a deep blue shade to assist in remaining hidden from mankind's peering eyes._

_500 years after the Great War of the Biju, a fisherman and brave warrior from Yokohama, called  
Takuma Muramasa, sacrificed himself on behalf of the two villages, Hi-i-gawa and Izumo, in a courageous act._

_He made it close enough to Isonade to seal his personal servant, Samehada, in the "Tool of  
Power" by use of a seal from the Water shrine. Isonade lost his ability to draw his  
massive chakra from Samehada and became exhausted, losing his power._

_From this lack of power came the loss of each of his three tails and three fins.  
His horns sunk into his head and he sprouted arms and legs like a normal human  
being. His once dark blue skin lightened to a softer blue. The worst consequence  
of this defeat was that he was banished to live his remaining years of his life-_

Immersed in the story, Sakura flipped the page over only to find that the back, where the rest of the story should've been, was blank save for the few random parts of letters around the page. Sakura struggled to hold in her anger. She had found the next page that she needed to figure out more about this history, and the back wasn't scribbled out or ripped from the book, it was _blank_.

Her breathing became harsh as she stared at the back of the page, convincing herself that if she stared hard enough, the words would rewrite themselves on the paper. Minutes passed and her shaking the paper and threatening it revealed nothing to her but those tiny little letter fragments.

Everyone in the Akatsuki building then heard a shrill, piercing scream.

* * *

Chapter 9, timely and complete! And that whole lab being destroyed thing? I put it in this chapter randomly because the idea just popped into my head and I thought it would make the story a little more interesting.

Anyways, for those of you who thought I wasgoing to disappear again after that last update, obviously I've proven you wrong! Haha, I am victorious! Erm, yeah, I wrote this chapter in about a day and a half. We're closing in on the end of this arc, only two more chapters to go!

So far a few of you have figured out what's really going on, and I give you ginormous congratulations on it because it was a difficult concept at the beginning when most of you got it, so kudos!

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all of you, too!

And thanks to all my lovely reviewers (you guys make my world go round): Chryseis Wyvernsen, SweetAssassin, Serenity Fey, Kisshi-chan, Teslyn, Zamos, Crimson-nightwind, Just me and myself, Manipulated Insanity, Jill BioSkop, Mizu Rei, Marsgoddess1, SpeedDemon315, and Iskah.

Leave reviews, please, and let me know what you guys are thinking. Until later!

Backlash Symphony


	10. Arc 1: Needles in a Nest

**Story Title: Unfortunate Circumstances**

**Chapter Title: 10. Needles in a Nest**

**Chapter 10 of 11**

**Arc 1 of 4**

**Pairing: ItachiSakuraKisame**

**Rating: M (Swearing, Later chapters)**

**Author: Backlash Symphony**

**Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More specifically, Kisame.ItaSakuKis**

**Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it.**

**Extra: Holidays are hectic, of course. And I've got two movies and a video game script I should be writing, but I figured, "I haven't worked on this story for at least a month. My readers deserve an update."**

**And if you don't remember what happened in the last chapter, just remember that Sakura found the next page but the back was blank, Sasuke leaves her a cryptic message, and Itachi's birthday is coming soon.**

**Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke: 20**

**Itachi, Kabuto: 26**

**Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade: 58**

Text means normal writing.

'Text' means thoughts.

_'Text' _means Inner Sakura's thoughts.

**Text** means flashback.

-_Text_- means something written.

* * *

Sakura knew the days were closing in on her. She had been cooped up in her lab for nearly four days. Her blanket and pillow and all of her bags were spread out on the operating table in the middle of the room. Her fridge was filled with pre-made meals and plain snacks. Her work now had a scroll specifically designed to seal it all inside and she had made sure it wouldn't open unless her chakra was fed into it. All exits and entrances underwent the same procedure. She was being extremely careful. 

Or maybe she was simply paranoid.

Regardless, she had explained it a few days before. She was going to be living in her lab until she reached the end of their agreement. That way, no 'accidental destruction' of her lab could occur (she looked pointedly at Itachi when she said this) and she would be able to make up for lost time spent sleeping herself to recovery.

But three nights spent sleeping on a concrete slab wasn't proving to be beneficial for her back or her neck. And the meals she made had to be eaten cold, and she constantly worried about leaving the lab to make a stop to the bathroom. She hadn't showered in three days, either. She was persistent about making up for lost time.

Or maybe she was simply paranoid.

Not to mention that Itachi's birthday was so close she could almost feel herself suffocating and becoming sloppier and more frantic with her work. Sasuke's words were playing in her head like a broken record, scratching out her thoughts of work with his damned cryptic messages. Sakura couldn't understand even slightly what he had meant, nor why he even showed up in her room. No, _especially_ why he had shown up in her room. And seemingly _flirted_. With_her_. That boy and her had _serious_ issues to discuss.

Or maybe she was simply paranoid.

Itachi's behavior was becoming more unpredictable with each passing day, and his health seemed to be getting worse. Deidara and Kisame were also acting strangely. She could see them huddled together on her way to the bathroom, having heated conversations no higher than whispers. When she would walk by them, they would separate and disperse, leaving her alone without so much as a wave or a nod or even a plain, "Hello" to prove that they had seen her. She wasn't paranoid, but they were all acting a bit suspiciously.

"Oh, who the hell am I fooling? I'm paranoid," came the indignant huff of the pink-haired medic.

She set the paper she had been staring at for the better part of the last hour down and ran her clammy fingers through her dirtied, stringy hair. A sigh escaped her lips and she grimaced at how oily her skin felt.

'I really need a shower. Badly.'

Her senses were screaming at her to move her ass up the stairs and sit under a hot shower for a good hour (A good, long, long, _long_ hour, maybe even the rest of the day). If she wasn't so paranoid, she would just march up the stairs and bathe her troubles away.

Sneaking a glance from the corner of her eye, she could see the scroll popping out from her bag, taunting her knowledge that she could store her work in there and then take it with her to the bathroom and just leave it on the toilet or the floor. She and the scroll stared at one another for a few moments.

Sakura swore the scroll moved.

"Fine, fine, you win!" she hissed, rising to her feet and stretching.

Around the popping of her joints, Sakura hobbled over to the scroll with her notebooks and papers in hand. She wrenched the parchment from her sack and spread it over her blanket, hurriedly spilling the contents in her arms onto the circle that sat in the middle of the page. Building chakra into her fingertips, she sealed the scroll and snatched it, heading for the door.

More chakra opened the door, and once she was outside of her lab, her chakra locked it. She noted that it was actually warmer outside of her lab. Or maybe she was fantasizing about the heat her lovely shower would produce?

Up the stairs she trudged and the familiar hallway greeted her. She shivered at the memories those walls had witnessed and the way they felt against her back. She pressed the scroll tighter to her chest, willing those thoughts away. Itachi's room went by, as did Kisame's and Hidan's, but as she passed by Deidara's, she could hear shuffling inside and frustrated grunts.

Brows furrowing, the rosette-haired woman slowed and concealed her chakra, moving closer to the door. She heard Deidara's voice utter her name and Sakura nearly bolted for fear of being caught, but Kisame's voice interrupted.

* * *

"Itachi is the one, not Sakura, Deidara!" 

Deidara growled, "Don't stick up for her because of how you feel, yeah! This is _serious_! She's getting so close to the edge it's driving Itachi and I crazy, yeah!"

"My feelings have nothing to do with this," Kisame hissed. "I'm trying too damn hard not to let Itachi lose it all! Or didn't you notice that without _him_ here and Itach – no –"

"**Don't** say it, yeah! Don't even think about it! Itachi will move up whether or not Pein is gone or here."

"Pein? That's what his name is?"

"Yes, but Konan isn't fit to run Akatsuki and we all know that, yeah! But so long as Itachi is in this situation, we can't move forward, and the sooner that Sakura makes things right-"

"Why is it up to her, Deidara? She won't be able to even _begin_ to think past where she is right now! She'll never get the rest of my story and by the time she figures out why Sasuke and Itachi are working together it'll be too late to break free from this agreement because she won't have any proof of it!"

Deidara sucked in a breath and the wall shook as his fist hit it.

"She has a chance to find the loophole and get away from here, for sure, if she can get the answers before Itachi's birthday-"

"Which is less than five days away, yeah! There's no way. I know she's smart but even _this_ puzzle can't be solved, yeah! If we weren't in on it, _we_ wouldn't even be able to get this all figured out, yeah!"

"Even_if_ Sakura does figure it out, nothing will change! Just because we caught her in a deal doesn't mean anything other than our guaranteed survival for when we finish gathering the biju and proceed with the next step of the plan!"

"And Itachi is the only one who knows what that step is, next to Pein…so we could be following this whole idea to our deaths, yeah…And if Pein shows up _before_ Itachi's birthday…we're in serious trouble, yeah!"

"Sakura is the one with the death threat here, and our heads will be right next to hers if we help her. I don't know what Pein was thinking when he approved of this deal but right now our top priority is to find him and keep him away from here until Sound has finished their end of their deal."

"It's too dangerous to have all of these agreements simultaneously in action, yeah. I have a _**bad**_ feeling about all of this."

* * *

Disbelief, dread, fury, betrayed. Sakura wasn't sure which word best described her as she listened to the conversation between Kisame and Deidara. Obviously she knew the deal she was making and what was expected of her, but while she had suspected something else was happening, she hadn't actually thought that she was so on track. 

Itachi really _did_ have something wrong with him, and the reason why they were acting so strangely was sound. It had something to do with another member, named Pein, and Itachi's new position.

"So I _wasn't_ paranoid after all!" she whispered, but immediately recognized her mistake when the words filtering through the door silenced.

Sakura spun on heel and sprinted down the hall to the safety of her room before anyone could check to see if they had been heard. She closed the door behind her, leaning against it and breathing heavier than she should have been.

Now, however, she had a _lot_ more to be worried about. She closed her eyes in intense thought and began to work through the problem of what she had heard.

There was more than just her own agreement with the Akatsuki, Deidara had said. There was another one going on with Sound, but Sakura had a feeling there was at least one more considering the way he had explained his fears of multiple plans coinciding. Then there was the issue of Itachi and his "rising up the ladder".

And Pein, who she hadn't heard of before. Konan she had never seen, but Pein was a completely new name. She tried to match a face without a name to this new one but failed. The only person she could think of was 'Leader', but he had always been in the shadows when she encountered him. Besides, what kind of idiots would follow under the lead of a man whose name they didn't know?

Apart from that fact, she knew that something was being weighted on her shoulders to figure out. Kisame had said 'his story' which meant that Sakura's path of mythology pages apparently might be the wrong one to go down. She would need to find his medical records. There was another person she was supposed to be watching out for, as well. Definitely Sasuke and…perhaps Kabuto?

'Kabuto doesn't have a high enough position to try and make a deal with Akatsuki. It has to be Orochimaru. But what would Akatsuki want with that traitor? And Sound, too? And who is this third party involved with the Akatsuki?'

Sakura pushed those questions from her mind, knowing that she wouldn't be able to figure those out unless she overheard the Akatsuki members discussing their answers. Back to Itachi's birthday, however, led Sakura to begin to believe in Sasuke's warning. Something was going to transpire on his birthday, and it was up to her to figure out whatever it was Kisame and Deidara were talking about in order to get out of this place.

'But what kind of a loophole were they talking about me finding?'

* * *

Hot water had never felt so good before to Sakura. She had spent a nice forty minutes underneath the spray, washed her hair and skin four times, and had even taken the time to shave. The water was worth those extra ten minutes it took. She had convinced herself not to think about what she had heard while she tried to relax. 

Once she dried off and washed her face one more time, she felt a presence at her door. Frozen, she recognized the overbearing sensation as Itachi's chakra. Rapidly she slipped on the fresh set of clothes she had pulled from her drawer.

Thirty seconds later she emerged from the humid bathroom with black shorts and a green short-sleeved shirt on, clouds of steam billowing from behind her. Her water-darkened pink hair was pulled off to the left side of her neck, the moisture soaking into her shirt.

Sure enough, at the entrance to her room stood the stoic figure of Itachi, looking sick and utterly exhausted. Cautiously she looked him over, assessing the state he appeared to be in.

"Did you need something, Uchiha?" Sakura asked once she had finished her observations.

"We're all leaving the base tonight to attend a meeting," Itachi explained, remaining in his position against the door to her room.

Sakura's brows furrowed.

'They're leaving? Didn't they just have a meeting two weeks ago, too? And why is he telling me this?'

"I'm keeping Tobi behind to make sure you stay out of trouble," he continued and ignored Sakura's glare in his direction.

"It's not like I'd be dumb enough to burn the place down or try to escape. You'd just come after me and murder me or something equally as idiotic."

A single brow raised in response before Itachi said, "Don't try anything stupid, Sakura. Just do your work."

"Che, like _I_ would do something _stupid_," Sakura defended, crossing her arms over her chest.

Itachi fixed her with a stare that spoke for him, telling Sakura that if _she_didn't even believe her words, then how was _he_ supposed to? Sakura rolled her eyes and dropped her hands to her hips, returning his stare.

"Are you done gawking at me or can we…"

'What the hell?!'

"Tobi is much stronger than you. Don't try anything."

And Itachi was gone, exiting the room and leaving Sakura with eyes wide and her mouth open.

"It had to have been the light. That's the only explanation. It _had_ to have been the light…"

But reasoning with herself didn't explain the flash of crimson in Itachi's left eye, or the amber flicker in Itachi's right.

* * *

Clean and settled and frustrated beyond all belief seemed to be Sakura's latest trend. She had been tinkering with the blank back of the page for a few hours now. She had found lemon juice in the kitchen and had dabbed a cotton ball in some, swiping gently at the corners of the page. Nothing had shown up. 

She had borrowed some matches from under the sink and found that by holding the paper over the flame, nothing would change except the singing of her fingertip. Stealing a black-light from Deidara's room had been no easy feat, but despite her accomplishing it, the paper remained blank.

Those letter fragments were teasing her, she _knew_ it.

She highly doubted that by using chemicals she would be able to find the writing on the page. Her stomach growled and Sakura decided to grab something to eat. A break wouldn't be too bad right about now, anyways.

She stood and stretched and headed for her fridge. Opening it let her see how empty it was. She frowned and realized she would have to make a trip to the kitchen to fix herself another few sets of food. She didn't even bother to think how she had missed it.

She left her lab, making sure to lock up, and went into the kitchen where she roughly collided with Sasori. The air was forced from her lungs at the impact and it didn't help that she had run into _him_ of all people.

'The one time I wish I could bump into Uchiha and of course he's nowhere to be found.'

Sakura took a hurried step back and shot Sasori a brief smile.

"Sorry, I should've been watching where I was going."

Sasori simply looked down at her, face emotionless and frozen in the beauty of his false youth. Sakura, hesitantly, took another step back. His only movement was to follow her with his eyes. Sakura's heart was beginning to beat faster against her ribs. Was Sasori waiting for something? Should she apologize again?

"I-"

"You should take a better look at things," Sasori cut in. "It could help you out in the future."

He passed by her and disappeared into the main hall. Sakura was left thoroughly confused, but she couldn't help but think the words he had said would possess another meaning.

* * *

Sakura woke up with alarms blaring in her head and feeling like someone was watching her. Her eyes fluttered open and a vibrant orange was the first thing she saw. Eyes widening, she let out a cry and threw her fist out but the orange thing screamed and ducked to the floor. 

Sakura kicked her covers from her body and scrambled backwards to the other side of her bed. She was reaching for the lamp on the table beside her bed when a plea of, "Tobi is a good boy!! Tobi promises he was only telling the pretty lady Tobi made breakfast for the pretty lady and Tobi!!"

Sakura's face softened and she shook her head.

'How did I forget? They're all gone and I'm being babysat by…Tobi…who really should be the one being babysat…'

Sakura took notice of what he called her, scrunching up her nose at how childish it sounded. She knew the "man", if you could call him that, was already very childish to begin with, so it didn't make much of a difference.

Tobi's mask-clad head peered over the edge of Sakura's bed and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Is the pretty lady awake now?"

Sakura sighed and violently threw her pillow at Tobi, causing him to yelp and hit the floor again.

'Only me, right? No one else has to deal with this.'

Sakura slid off the bed and pulled a pair of Kakashi's sweatpants over her legs and boxers. She stretched as she made for the door and left her room without waiting for Tobi. She could hear him scrambling to his feet anyways, so there was no need to call for him.

She ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to tame it as Tobi sprinted to a position beside her. Sakura could see that he was a few inches taller than her and that his hair seemed to be just as messy as her own.

"Tobi apologizes to the pretty lady for having to keep her under close guard, but Tobi is willing to spar with the pretty lady if she wants Tobi to?"

'Spar? Christ, I haven't done that in a while…'

"Hm, that sounds-"

'_Like the second worst idea we've ever had, actually_.'

Sakura froze in mid-step, eyes dilated. Tobi made it a few steps ahead of her before he realized she wasn't following him anymore.

'Where the hell did you come from!?'

"Pretty lady?"

'_Have I mentioned how difficult it is to break through those damn barriers?'_

"Hello?"

'Where have you been! And what are you talking about, 'barriers?''

"Preettyyy laaaddyy??"

'_The ones Itachi used to split us apart. Didn't you wonder why he was able to 'use the Mangekyo' on us? Or why I disappeared for such a long time? Or did you really not miss me?'_

"Is the pretty lady alright?"

'But that isn't possible. How did he…what kind of a…you've been in my head the entire time and you've just been trying to 'break the barrier?''

"Heeelllllooooo??"

'_You can't get rid of me that easily. I _am_ you, remember? That Mangekyo thing wasn't the real thing. It was a very advanced-'_

"Does Tobi need to splash cold water on the pretty lady??"

'Genjutsu, yes, I know that much. I figured that out, but I still don't understand how you were trapped on a separate side of a…barrier…you really aren't making any sense, you know…'

"Oh no! TOBI FROZE THE PRETTY LADY!"

'_Time is running out, to be honest. The barrier keeps depleting and I can break through now, but it's not gone entirely. Trust me and don't fight him. Figure out where that last page is and I'll return.'_

"What can Tobi do to bring the pretty lady back?"

'Wait, last page? Let me guess, you crossing the barrier allowed you to catch up with everything that's happened?'

"TOBI KNOWS!!"

'_Exactly, but be careful. You're approaching the last days before his birthday, so let's figure this out before then.'_

"Tobi will give the pretty lady a KISS and she will turn unfrozen!"

Sakura's eyes watered as if she hadn't blinked in a very long time. She blinked, squeezing her eyes closed to allow the fluids to coat her eyes again, and reached a hand up to push Tobi's face away from her.

"Yay! Tobi brought the pretty lady back! Is the pretty lady okay now?" he asked, shaking where he stood with excitement.

Sakura nodded and said, "I'm fine, but I think I had better work for today. I'll spar some other time."

Tobi's disappointment seemed physical to Sakura, and she quickly walked away from him, going over her conversation with her inner self. How long had it been since she had been able to have a full discussion with herself? But now she had even _more_ to think about!

'Jeez, if these last few days don't kill me, I think suicide might just be the most intelligent choice before I go completely insane…'

* * *

Breakfast went by quickly and Sakura bid Tobi goodbye, heading for her lab. Once she was sure her door was locked, she headed for her desk, only to find that a piece of paper with writing that _definitely_ didn't belong to her was sitting there, a clay spider walking along the edges of the paper. 

Sakura's blood ran cold at the thought of someone managing to get into her lab when only her chakra could activate the door. However, that spider was one of Deidara's, Sakura knew, and the moment Sakura began to approach her desk the spider stopped moving and melted into a clay puddle.

Tentatively Sakura pulled the paper from the spider remains, fearing that maybe it would explode. It certainly explained how someone was able to get inside without having her chakra. Deidara had sent the spider with the note under the door and had instructed it to sit on her desk. Maybe it alerted Deidara that she was there when it had melted?

Sakura cleared her head and looked down at the paper.

_- Forget Kisame's and my brief conversation yesterday._

_We did happen to know you were there, by the way. _

_All in all, it would be in your best interest and resting safety to forget._

_Deidara _-

Sakura's eyes narrowed. Deidara, without a doubt, did _not_ talk like this. Neither did Kisame, in case Kisame could have narrated and Deidara just sat there and wrote it out.

"Is this what Sasori wanted me to look at? Or am I over-thinking this?"

'It won't hurt to try, right?'

Sakura put the piece of paper close to her face, reading the words over again. She was struck once again with the awkward wording and the suspicion of this not being Deidara's way of speaking. She knew that the Sharingan allowed one to copy the exact way of writing, and Itachi could have written the note, but Sakura knew Itachi didn't speak like this either.

Jade eyes moved over each letter individually, thinking there may be a certain space of line indicating a hidden message. She reached the 'r' in the first 'forget' in the note and saw that it was smudged to the left. She knew that Deidara was right-handed, so he couldn't have smudged it unless he mistakenly touched his other hand to it.

Ignoring it, she moved along and stopped only two characters away on the 'e' of the first 'forget'. Once again, she saw the smudge to the left. Sakura wasn't sure if it was coincidental or if it actually meant something. She snatched a stray pen and began writing down a dot beneath the two letters.

She moved along the rest of the note and realized that there were a lot of smudged-to-the-left letters. She made marks under them all until she got to the end and then looked over the note once more.

_- Fo__r__g__e__t Kisa__me__'s and __m__y __b__rief conv__e__rsation yeste__r__day._

_We did happen to know you were there, by the way. _

_A__l__l in all, __i__t would __b__e in you__r__ best interest __a__nd__r__esting safet__y__ to forget._

_Deidara _–

Sakura wrote the letters out on the bottom of the paper and tried to sound it out. It took her no longer than two seconds to realize that Sasori had been right about a hidden meaning. The letters spelled, 'Remember Library'.

It felt like ice was growing where her bones were. She was completely sure now that what was going on was intended to throw her off course and that Deidara, despite his knowing he would get killed for letting her know, had helped her.

She would have to remember to stop calling him Blondie for that.

Sakura knew that the library room was actually Itachi's room, which meant that she would have to somehow get back into his room without alerting Tobi that she was up to no good. Though honestly, she wouldn't mind socking him one right in the face for trying to kiss her earlier.

Seriously, this wasn't a freakin' fairytale. He wasn't a prince. She wasn't a princess. Kissing her wasn't going to bring her back to reality.

Her biggest problem was now to focus on how she would lie to him and get past him. She really did want to punch him, but her inner self had warned her not to, and while she was generally the one who loved trouble and misbehaving, Sakura knew that her inner self's honest warning was one to be followed.

'Not to mention that Uchiha warned me yesterday that he was stronger than me, which means he was expecting me to fight him. Asshole…that man deserves the suffering he's going through right now for putting me through this hell…'

Sakura sucked in a deep breath and made up a plan in her head. Tobi seemed nice, right? He couldn't be that bad of a guy…right? Sakura snatched a report file and tucked it under the waistband of her sweatpants, tying the strings tightly to make sure the papers didn't fall out.

Sakura left her lab and acted as if nothing had happened when she entered the kitchen where Tobi was reading a newspaper's comic section. He looked up and Sakura gave him a smile.

"Sorry to bother you, Tobi, but I left one of my report files in my room. Uchiha told me you were in charge, so I'm just letting you know so you don't come knocking on my lab door when I'm not there. I'll be back down in a minute, alright?"

Tobi nodded enthusiastically and went back to reading his comics.

"Pretty lady is granted permission!"

Sakura thanked him quickly and made her way to the second floor of the complex. She peered over her shoulder to see if Tobi was following her but she found the hallways and staircase to be empty. She calmly strolled down the hall and stopped at Itachi's door. She placed her hand over the door knob and turned it. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding when it opened.

She slid between the frame and the door and quietly shut the door, wincing at the quiet click it made. Her eyes searched through the darkness for something that would tell her she was being watched or that her presence wasn't the only one in the room. She found it to be empty and she flicked on the lights.

She tried to ease her breathing when she remembered what had happened in this room and succeeded once she reminded herself why she was here. She gave the room a once-over and decided to move over to the small bookcase against the wall. She brushed her fingers over the titles printed on the sides of the books, scanned the quickly, and determined how useful they would be.

She reached the shelf at the bottom and found a battered, frayed book with no title on the side. She pulled it out of its place and flipped open. The first few pages were blank and Sakura didn't understand why Itachi would keep a blank notebook on his bookshelf.

She was about to close it when she caught a flash of writing at the back. She flipped the book around and opened it from what she thought was the back but what she now could see was the front. The words printed across the top of the page were scribbled out and pictures of men and women were taped inside.

Parting the pages from the ones before them, Sakura felt fear begin to pump through her heart. Her stomach was twisting in knots and her breathing became labored. Sketches of people and diagrams were scribbled and messily written around in letters that Itachi had never written before.

Sakura turned another page and the book, already dangling dangerously from her hands, dropped from her fingers. Her eyes couldn't move away from the design and the writing on the page. All she could do was look down and stare as her fear mutated into absolute, unbridled horror.

Glaring up at her were the instructions required to perform the Body-Transfer Technique.

* * *

**So this chapter basically means that this first arc will be completed once I write next chapter. And I'm warning you now that the next chapter is going to be pretty short because only two things are happening in order to wrap up this section of the story.**

**I'm not sure how I'm going to work out the second arc (by means of posting, now what's going to happen) but I think I'll write the last chapter of this first arc and then write the first chapter of arc 2 so I can provide an immediate link when I post the last chapter.**

**This chapter was definitely kind of strange and confusing so if things need to be clarified, ask because I don't see myself explaining things in any of the future chapters.**

**Thanks to my reviewers yuki san1, Moonhuntress09, Fire Kitsune, freak a geek, Shadeslayer390, anbu kai, Sami, moonlightmama, Heartless Ghostie, Bloody Sunrise, Sailor Tiamat, TeenageCrisis, Serenity Fey, Manipulated Insanity, Teslyn, gaara's hope, SpeedDemon315, Goatis, Iskah, black55widow, and SweetAssassin.**

**You guys always keep me going! Thanks for reading! Leave a review and have a great day! Till later!**

**Backlash Symphony**


	11. Arc 1: Star Reputation

Story Title: Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter Title: 11. Star Reputation

Chapter 11 of 11

Arc 1 of 3

Pairing: ItachiSakuraKisame

Rating: M (Swearing, Later chapters)

Author: Backlash Symphony

Summary: Sakura is sent to a tiny village in need of medical help after the death of her husband, Kakashi. The Akatsuki attack, taking control of everything. Due to her reputation, she is forced to help the Akatsuki. More specifically, Kisame.ItaSakuKis

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it.

Extra: This is the last chapter of this arc. The URL of the first chapter of the second arc will be posted at a later time.

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke: 20

Itachi, Kabuto: 26

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade: 58

Text means normal writing.

'Text' means thoughts.

_'Text' _means Inner Sakura's thoughts.

**Text** means flashback.

-_Text_- means something written.

* * *

The way she was moving she may as well have been the victim of the nervous system attack that Tsunade had taught her how to use back when she first became her student. Her brain was telling her trembling hands to reach down and pick up the book she had dropped but her legs were extending and bringing her to her full height. She tried to sit back down but her fingers reached up and pushed her hair away from her forehead. When she told her hands to fold together, she found her legs kneeling back down in front of the notebook. 

"Oh-my-_God_!" she whispered frantically, breathing becoming more and more labored with each passing moment.

Her fingertips brushed the edges of the page that was in her line of sight. The title was blaring, popping out from the paper, the instructions and images seemingly swimming across her vision. Sakura couldn't believe what she was witnessing, but her body was on auto-pilot, having had enough of her conscious misdirection and decided to become mutinous and get what needed to be done completed.

She traced the lines of characters with her fingertips and wasn't aware of the tears that traveled down her pale cheeks until the little droplets of moisture landed on the pages at her hands. She was crying for fear of what she was seeing, for the pain she felt, for the fury that was building within her, for all the time she had spent in this complex, for Kakashi, who had words she should have listened to more closely.

Her senses told her that if she was caught, she would simply make it a point to explain that she was done here anyways. If Tobi tried to stop her, then she would go against her own wishes and just land him a really painful hit to the face for lying to her. She swallowed a lump that was forming in the back of her throat and turned the page.

Of all the things she would be able to see, she never thought she'd feel so emotional over something as simple as this notebook. She knew, somewhere in the back of her head, that this moment had been coming for quite some time. She had known for the month that she had been in this cursed place that she would figure out the big secret behind Itachi Uchiha, but she had _never_ expected something as disgusting and pathetic as _this_.

The back of the page that she had found to have only fragments of letters was taped onto a blank section of the notebook. She had believed the page would eventually show something, but she never would have guessed that someone would have literally removed the passage by means of taping over the written sections and removing them with the clear adhesive.

She tried to calm herself and force her breathing into a controlled state, but to no avail. She was quivering worse than before and the tears were making her vision incredibly blurry. Her heart was racing against her chest, as if it were trying to escape its calcium prison. She brought her fingers to her eyes to wipe away the moisture and that helped her some. Readying herself, she began to read the missing passage.

- _on land. He had to learn how to coexist with the very humans he tormented who approached his territory at sea._

_The concept of a Water God living among mere mortals was unheard of, and people managed to locate Isonade's new location with each move he made. Those who were afraid would warn their children not to travel nearby, especially at night, or else they would be eaten by Isonade. Those with a little more courage threatened the now less-powerful and much less monstrous-looking ex-God._

_He could no longer control all the water, only a fraction of what he once had, but he strived to live and those villagers were only interferences. He was used to terrified looks and fleeing women and men when he let his true form be shown. He grew angry and often sent waves of destructive water to ruin villages._

_On the coast one night, as Isonade prepared himself for that evening's slumber, he heard, not far into the distance, the scream of a woman. While he was angry with mankind for their unfair treatment of him, he knew that in his heart, he couldn't just let an innocent woman die or be raped._

_He located her quickly and the sheer sight of him sent the man, who was trying to rape her, running. He caught him effortlessly and right before he murdered him, the man managed to land a superficial cut to Isonade's chest. He knew he shouldn't let the woman see him and tried to find a different exit._

_The woman, however, called after him. Her voice was like creek water over mossy rocks, smooth and gentle and beautiful. He gave in to the innocence it held and allowed her to see him. He expected her to run when she saw him, but she didn't. She gasped, not in fear of his hideous appearance, but of the wound he had –_

Sakura's eyes traveled to the page beside the taped passage and continued to read.

_-received._

_The woman begged him to let her tend to it and Isonade was thoroughly confused. He allowed her to and while she did, he noticed how stunning the woman was. With hair the color of the night sky and eyes the deepest of blues, Isonade felt his heart flutter with love._

_Having finished her work, the woman noticed Isonade's intense stare at her. She offered herself to him but he declined, telling her that he could never devour such a beautiful woman who had done nothing wrong. She explained that she had, and when he asked how, she told him that she had walked away from her wedding because the man she was to marry beat her._

_The woman cried on the massive shoulders of Isonade and he knew that he loved this woman and wanted no harm to come to her. That night, he made her his own, and one year later, she had four children, each a varying shade of blue with different kinds of hair. They all had massive amounts of chakra coursing through their systems._

_When they were old enough to wed, Isonade explained to the woman that whoever married first would be the only child of the four to live. He told her that in order to preserve the power and prevent their children from using their powers for wrong, it had to be done._

_The others would have to be killed. Their only daughter, who had the creamy pale skin of her mother, the silky cerulean hair and two black lines below her eyes like her father, was the first to marry. The conditions were explained to her and she was bound by oath to follow them._

_One week after Isonade killed his other three children, the woman he married committed suicide. _

_Their daughter continued to extend the line of Isonade, having three children of her own. She followed through with her father's wishes, explained the tradition to her own children when they were old enough to marry, and thus was born the first hybrid breed of human and God. -_

The floor was quick to meet Sakura's side as she collapsed, sobbing, onto it. Her whole body shook violently, tears sliding down her cheeks. Her knees curled into her chest, arms wrapped protectively around herself. She couldn't feel the throbbing in her heart as it had been replaced by a freezing numbness. Her tears slid down her throat and pooled around her ear, dampening her hair and making it sticky.

Sakura had never had such a violent, emotional reaction to something she'd read. But now she could understand why Kisame chose to become one of the Akatsuki. He had probably had the worst traits passed down to him, leaving him unable to find someone to marry him before one of his siblings did.

He had fled when he found out what his fate was to be, terrified, probably, and unsure of what he would do. Someone must have found him and felt the extraordinary power he held, the potential he had, and had taken him to develop it. He had probably been labeled as a missing-nin and had to kill to save himself.

The poor guy had to have been 17 years old and he was to be murdered for doing nothing wrong. No wonder his views of love and friendship were so warped! He didn't know how to trust people he didn't know when his own family wanted him dead.

Sakura bit down on her tongue to try and quell her sobs, suddenly realizing that she was in a room she wasn't supposed to be in with a book that explained all of the things she needed to get out of this complex. Her crying had to have been exceptionally loud and Tobi would most likely be on his way up.

Sakura stumbled to her knees, pulling the folder from her pants and slipping the notebook into it. Pressing it to her chest, she clumsily got to her feet and turned the light off. Her fingers fumbled through the hand signs to transport her to her room, only smoke left in her wake.

She arrived right in front of her bed and nearly collapsed onto it. She kept herself steady, though. It was time for her to think. She had to stop it with the theatrics and the hysterics and focus, because this was what she had been waiting for. _This_ was the key to her freedom, to going home and being where she belonged. She needed absolute concentration and focus to pull this off.

She tucked her hair back into a messy ponytail and roughly wiped away the tear stains lining her cheeks. She pulled in deep, even breaths, watching her chest expand and contract in a rhythmic, calming way. She could have been in her room for a few minutes or a few hours for all she knew, because enthusiastic knocking on her door brought her from her breathing.

With a start, she called, "Who is it?"

"Tobi wanted to make sure the pretty lady was okay! She had been gone for nearly a half hour! Is the pretty lady okay?"

Sakura wanted to smile at how childish this man was but refrained from it. She walked to the door and opened it up, looking up at the masked figure.

"Sorry it took so long. I forgot where I put it," she explained, waving the file in front of him.

She pushed past him and headed straight into her lab. She had a lot to think about.

* * *

"Our business is concluded here. You can all head back to the base. You have your instructions. You all know that we'll begin preparations for tomorrow." 

The men nodded and disappeared with a blur. The blonde and the blue-haired men glanced at each other with worry before they, too, left with a blur.

* * *

Papers were spread around her desk and her operating table. The notebook she had discovered in Itachi's room was sitting, opened, in her lap, atop a blank book for her final theory to be composed in. 

Already written in it was her explanation for why she wouldn't be able to heal Kisame. Under that paragraph she had her reasoning for being unable to heal Itachi's eyes. She had begun to write about Sound's involvement, but so far she was still unable to think of anything realistic enough to make sense. Since she was little, she had always known that Sasuke was out for his brother's blood. Nothing would stop him from achieving that.

She had imagined Sasuke and Itachi agreeing on killing Orochimaru to keep him out of the way when it came to their final battle. She could see Itachi getting Sasuke to murder Orochimaru in exchange for Itachi's explanation of the Uchiha Massacre. She could even picture Kabuto being dragged back to the Akatsuki and Sasuke joining up in order to learn Itachi's weaknesses. But Sasuke and Itachi on willing civil terms was out of the question.

And Sound still had a bigger involvement in all of this –whatever "this" really was because she didn't even really know to begin with.

'Sound wants the Leaf Village to be destroyed. Orochimaru wants Sasuke's body and eternal life. Akatsuki wants the biju…and I'm assuming that they each have their own personal vendettas…but what does any of that have in common?'

'_Sasuke could technically give Orochimaru's head to Tsunade and be granted Konoha citizenship again, you know._'

Sakura smiled, grateful that she had her inner self back to work.

'I take it the barrier is gone now?'

'_Yes, but that doesn't mean we won't suffer side effects from forcing it away.'_

'I'll keep that in mind. But as for that idea, it would make sense but what doesn't is why he would come back without killing Itachi.'

'_If Orochimaru is dead, then that only leaves Itachi in the Bingo Book for most wanted from Konoha. Tsunade will grant him citizenship and Sasuke will know where the Akatsuki base is and can come back under the intentions of becoming a member and then kill him. That will be enough to exonerate all his charges._'

'…but that still doesn't make total sense. Sasuke is desperate to kill Itachi, but he's also smart enough to know that the Akatsuki will be ten steps ahead of him. They'll move bases while Sasuke is out on a mission or before Sasuke even returns. They have no more Sound to worry about and they can continue their work without interference.'

'_So why are Akatsuki and Sound working together, then?_'

Sakura smacked a hand to her forehead.

'That's what I've been trying to figure out. What have you gotten from the information I had the last time you made it through the barrier?'

'_I've come to the same conclusions as you. Kisame's story makes much more sense now and Kakashi's death is starting to be able to point fingers at Sasuke. Though really, if we go down that route, then the whole exoneration business seems like it would work. I just can't believe that Itachi would do something as stupid as making a deal with Orochimaru. I mean, he knows what the snake is capable of doing to him when he's-'_

'Wait!**That's it!** That's why Sasuke is here! That's why…now it all makes much more sense!'

Sakura scribbled down her newest thoughts on the page at her knee.

'_Oh, I see what you're getting at now. But that still doesn't explain how Sound got involved, and our guess that there's another reason seems pretty logical._'

'Since when did you become so helpful? You've never been this nice before. Maybe I should get barriers to separate us more often…It makes you easier to deal with.'

'_That isn't funny. Besides, you can I both know that without me, you're a mental case. And don't try to deny it, either, because you know it's true._'

'That's a cheap shot and you-'

Sakura's senses flared as she felt a half a dozen familiar chakras heading into the complex. Her eyes scanned the single page she had filled and she felt her stomach churning in anxiety. She sucked in a breath between her teeth and placed a hand over her stomach, telling herself to calm down. Getting angry wouldn't help any, either.

'Wish me luck.'

'_Good luck to us._'

Sakura ripped the page from her notebook, sensing that the familiar chakra signatures were moving into the kitchen. She grabbed her backpack, shouldered it, snatched the book she'd liberated from Itachi's room, and walked to the door. She tucked the book and the paper under the belt at her waist under the back of her shirt. Once her hand wrapped around the handle, she was overcome with a severe horror for her person.

What if the Akatsuki was upset with her finding the loophole and simply decided she would be less trouble if they just killed her? What if they tortured her –not that she'd never been tortured before- or fed her to Zetsu? Sakura narrowed her eyes and straightened her back.

"No, I will prevail. I will move on and show them I'm better than they thought I was. Most importantly, I'll prove that bastard wrong!" she whispered determinedly.

The door was opened before she could change her mind.

'Just breathe normally. You've done worse than this. You'll win and go home, drink some tea and watch the wedding tape. You'll beat them, you will!'

The whispered conversation in the kitchen died down when Sakura passed beneath the archway.

Tobi was busying himself with something in the fridge but he quickly removed himself from it holding a glass of orange juice. Sasori was leaning against the sink, watching Hidan as he slumped back in his chair and fingered the necklace he wore. Deidara sat across from Kisame, the two looking everywhere but at one another. Kakuzu was tucking some bills into his cloak, sitting across from the ill-appearing Itachi.

The moment she entered the kitchen, however, all eyes were on her. She could practically hear their thoughts as if they were saying them. Why did she have her bag with her? What did she want? Couldn't she see they were discussing something? What was she thinking about?

Sakura swallowed the lump that formed in the back of her throat and said, "I can go home now."

Itachi stood up from his chair, relying heavily on the table to get him up.

"I don't want to listen to your theories right now," he said pointedly, eyeing her suspiciously.

Sakura forced a smile onto her face.

'Now or never. Literally!'

She dropped her bag and paced forward, Itachi her target. He tried to maneuver around Sakura but she gripped his bicep tightly, forcing him to halt. Her gaze remained straight ahead, directed onto the wall, while Itachi's narrowed crimson eyes trained onto her falsely smiling face.

"I'm sure I have a few things to say that might be in your best interest to hear…" Sakura turned her head to meet gazes with Itachi. "…Orochimaru."

* * *

"Tsunade, I'm beginning to worry about her." 

"I trust in Sakura's abilites, Shizune."

"But…I don't believe sending her on this mission was right!"

"It'll all work out in the end, Shizune. That was the agreement when I sent her on this mission."

"She isn't emotionally stable, though, Tsunade! That's the point I'm trying to make!"

"She'll pull through this. She always has and I know she will again."

"It's been a month, Tsunade. I know she's good but-"

"She'll be on her way home soon. I trust in her abilities."

* * *

The sound of shattering glass permeated the air but Sakura merely continued to stare down 'Itachi'. His crimson eyes morphed into furious slits as he wrenched his arm from Sakura's grasp. The smug expression she wore left the anger inside of him churning. 

The tension in the room was tangible but Sakura's eyes never once left Itachi's face. It was so silent she was sure she would be able to hear a bug crawling across the wall. Sakura pointed to the chair Itachi had risen from.

"Take a seat and I'll explain what I know. I don't know, I might make a mistake. You're better off hearing me out," she explained. "Or you can always kill me, but I don't think that would work too well with your plans."

Itachi's head jerked towards Kisame but the blue-skinned man looked just as shocked as Itachi felt. Sakura calmed her breathing and continued.

"You asked me to reconnect Isonade with Kisame, but the truth on the matter is that Kisame has no demon inside of him. He is a descendant from Isonade. He has high levels of chakra and he looks the way he does because Isonade can be traced back to be his ancestor." Sakura observed Kisame from the corner of her eye. "His reason for being here is because he couldn't marry before one of his other siblings did and death was his fate after that point."

"How did you find that out?" 'Itachi' snarled. "He told you, didn't he?"

Sakura reached behind her and tugged the book from its hiding place. She flipped it open and skipped a few pages, ignoring the enraged look that was on Itachi's face. She got to the section she received her information from and tossed the book onto the table, displaying it for everyone to see.

"I found that book in your room, Orochimaru, and I never would have thought you'd take over Itachi's body. Then I found the directions to complete the Body-Transfer Technique. I combined those pages with the flash of yellow in your eyes. You and Sasuke being civil contributed to my discovery."

"I told you to stay out of that room," Itachi hissed, taking a sudden step forward.

Sakura leapt back a foot, fearful that Itachi might swing at her, but Sasori was already standing between her and Itachi, holding him back.

"That may be, but I told you to stay out of my lab, and you sent Kabuto to attack my lab. By the way, that only made more sense, especially since Kabuto wouldn't take orders from Sasori anymore and because you and Kabuto attempted to kill Sasori, but I'd already beaten you to it."

The image of Yamato's, Sai's, and the Naru-Kyuubi's faces flashed through Sakura's and Orochimaru's heads. She shook the vision away and continued with her theories. She was almost done. She wasn't going to screw any facts up.

"At first I didn't understand why Sound would be working with Akatsuki, and I still don't understand all the factors of it now. However, I do know that by having you take over Itachi's body, you could make it seem like a peaceful resolution to being a traitor of the Akatsuki. You would have your body and you would continue to train Sasuke for another three years until Itachi's body became worn out."

Sakura walked to the table and placed the written notebook paper down beside the book. Touching the pages of the journal she explained further.

"You didn't know that Itachi's eyes were already so bad that he was going to be nearly blind by the time you transferred into his body, but once it had happened, it was too late to find a separate body to move to. Realizing your mistake, you kept Sasuke close by. The Akatsuki wouldn't kill Itachi, but due to his failing abilities, he was beginning to have less and less use to them. You knew that they could get rid of two birds with one stone.

"You had Kakashi murdered for his Sharingan eye, knowing that he was able to use it, though it weakened him since he wasn't an Uchiha. You figured since you inhabited Itachi Uchiha's body, the removal of one eye and the replacement of Kakashi's Sharingan wouldn't leave you exhausted after each use. You would have one good eye, and one bad eye.

"Bringing me into the equation wasn't something you were too keen about. You knew I would work for Kakashi's revival, but just in case I actually healed your eyes, you needed me to stay. Once you switched to Sasuke's body, Itachi's eyes would need to be healed once more so that you could transfer back to Itachi once your three years inside Sasuke expired. You would have a healthy set of Uchiha's to possess. But a problem arose."

Sakura closed the book she was touching and tucked it back between her belt and her pants. She looked back at Itachi, watching his poorly controlled anger, relieved now that the man she had met wasn't the one she had heard so much about from Kakashi.

"Throughout your existence in Itachi's body, you realized that Sasuke would begin to get irritable and leave you because you hadn't provided him with sufficient training to kill his brother. He would be offended and fed up with your antics, believe you were teasing him by taking over his brother's body and being around him with it, taunting him because he wouldn't be able to kill Itachi while your soul was inside of it.

"You promised him that once Itachi's birthday came up, you would be able to move out of his body and while Itachi recovered, Sasuke could kill him. You would then take over Sasuke's body, bring Itachi's head to Konoha and pretend to be Sasuke so you could have all of his charges exonerated and be a reinstated citizen of Konoha. You would fake your real body's death and Sasuke would have wiped the two most wanted criminals in the Konoha Bingo book flat off the face of the Earth."

Sasori moved silently to stand beside Itachi's trembling body. The rage he was suppressing was going to come out at some point, but for now it was apparent that his fury wouldn't even allow him to talk.

"From then on, you would act as if you were carrying out Sasuke's wishes. You would continue the Uchiha bloodline and work on destroying Konoha from the inside. A well-thought out plan, but you never figured that I would break it to pieces."

Sakura was finished with everything. She had proved the entire agreement to be void and now she could leave. She could return home, _finally_! And she could stay there and not have to worry about possessed bodies or seriously old men hitting on her or making out with the enemy. She could forget all about what had happened here.

"One final thing I have to get off my chest before someone shows me out," Sakura suddenly mentioned.

She sauntered over to stand in front of Itachi's body, hand reaching up to innocently cup his cheek. Without warning, her other hand collided with his uncovered cheek in the form of a fist, launching his form through the space of the kitchen and through the back wall.

"If you're so afraid to die then you're definitely in the wrong profession," Sakura bellowed, abruptly huffing indignantly and turning on her heel to retrieve her bag.

Sasori and Tobi eventually made it over to the unmoving body beneath the clumps of plaster and the boards of wood that covered Itachi.

Sakura smirked to herself triumphantly as she secured her pack around her frame.

"Is someone going to show me where the exit is or am I going to have to destroy walls until I find a way out?"

Deidara and Kisame were at her sides in an instant, guiding her through the hallways until they passed her lab and arrived at the door next to it. She tucked the book into her backpack as Deidara's hand glowed with chakra. A series of clicks were heard as the door unlocked itself. He opened the door and a rush of cold air blew right into Sakura's face.

She nearly melted right where she was. How long had it been since she had last been outside? _Really_ outside? The training time didn't count since it was all a genjutsu, so it had to have been when she fought Kisame. God she missed it, the sun, the rain, the clouds.

"I was afraid you wouldn't get it, yeah," Deidara whispered.

"So was I, Deidara. So was I."

Sakura hesitantly stepped forward, gazing at the drops of rain as they pelted the grass and the trees, feeling the cold wind as it blew leaves from their branches and the roaring thunder that rumbled through the dark clouds.

'One more step to freedom. Don't think about them.'

"Thank you," she mumbled.

She knew that if she turned around, she would want to kiss Kisame again. She would want to hug Deidara until he turned blue. Kisame had been right when she'd talked to him that first time. Not everyone in the Akatsuki was as evil and criminal as she had first judged.

"And I'm sorry."

The rain fell around her, dampening her skin, seeping into her clothes, making her hair stringy as she dashed away from the two men at the door. Chakra laced her feet and pushed her harder and faster through the forests and the plains. She raced against time, halting life where it was.

She was a free woman now. She no longer had to worry about criminals or past loves or unfair rules. She didn't need to fear a man with split personalities or labs being destroyed or lackeys flirting with her. She was past sleepless nights and painful nightmares and unwanted tension. She would be over existing as a simple medic and a joke of an ANBU captain and a lie of a lover.

The rain came down just a bit harder and she laughed at herself and the soaked clothes she wore that stuck to her skin, cleansing her and forgiving her for what she had done, allowing her to move on and forget what she had suffered through.

She was Haruno, Sakura, and no man or god on earth or in Heaven could ever change that.

* * *

_Arc 2:_** Unfortunate Coercions  
**_Summary:_** Sakura's return to Konoha: a promise to move on; a vow to forget; a choice to put on the mask once more; a battle against her will & heart. What Akatsuki wants, it gets, & Sakura is nonnegotiable on the brink of war.ItaSak**

**So there's the end of Arc 1. Now I have to go back and change the other chapters to say "Arc 1 of 3" because that fourth arc I had planned wouldn't have made much sense. I think I said last chapter that I was going to post the URL for the first chapter of Arc 2 somewhere in this chapter.**

**I figured you all should get the chance to read this last chapter without having to wait a longer time for that second one to get put up. I know it'll take a while to get the first chapter out since it's going to be longer and will have a few fight scenes in it which means I'll have to write it so people don't get bored reading it. I got a lot of good responses to the fight between Sakura and Kisame for not being boring so I'll work just as hard to make these fights the same.**

**Thanks to my amazing reviewers Sara 'Devilchu', Shadeslayer390, Sailor Tiamat, yuki san1, Iskah, byakugan-master93, Sanity Overload, xXBlack.Friday.VampireXx, The-New-Akatsuki-Leader, TeenageCrisis, SpeedDemon315, Moonhuntress09, black55widow, mariahpink, Serenity Fey and freak a geek.**

**Thank you all for sticking with me this far and I hope to see you in the next arc!**

**Don't forget to review, please!**

**Till later!**

**Backlash Symphony**


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